Factor contestant Kitty Brucknell has admitted taking illegal hormones to lose weight.

On Facebook, in June last year, Kitty sang the the praises of diet drug hCG, writing:

“Oh my god. I’ve lost 2 inches from my hips in five days. This diet rules.” She added: “hCG. It’s amazing.”

In October she said: “Want a big bowl of pasta to cheer me up but I can’t…Thinking about how thin I’m going to be.

X Factor: Kitty Brucknell worked as honeytrap

X Factor: Tulisa confronted by angry contestant

“This diet will literally CHANGE YOUR LIFE. All of those who knows me…it freaking works,” she wrote in December, adding: “I have a six-pack…omg didn’t even have this with lipo. hCG Rules.”

It's illegal to sell hCG as a slimming aid, but it can be easily bought on the internet.

The 26-year-old, who impressed judges by singing Lady Gaga's The Edge of Reason, on last week's X Factor, forked out £3000 for liposuction in 2009 in a bid to look like Britney Spears.

But last night, Kitty told the Mirror: "I have a healthy approach to food and diet and I am really happy being a size 10. I have dieted at times in the past but no more than the average person."

A source close to Kitty told the Mirror that she didn't know the drug was illegal and that she only took it for a month.

An X Factor Insider said: “We have a doctor, a psychologist and a psychiatrist who are on call through the live shows and any other support the media team advise.

“Contestants in later stages are assessed by a doctor. If any concerns are raised by the doctor or clinical psychologist, they are referred to a consultant psychiatrist.”