But luckily for Gayna Williams and Heather Farah, Simon Cowell's colleagues on The X Factor all disagreed with him.

The Leeds lasses have been regulars on the clubland circuit for years now.

But they are hoping to swap working men's club stages for stardom after getting through the first audition of Britain's biggest talent contest.

Gayna, 43, and Heather, 40, both of Belle Isle, teamed up two years ago to become singing duo Domino.

After failing to impress The X Factor judges as solo artists in past years, they decided to pool their vocal talents at this year's audition in Manchester.

Gayna, a housing officer for Leeds City Council, and Heather, who runs Bob's Butties catering van in Hunslet, were invited to perform in front of judges Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and the dreaded Simon Cowell.

After belting out their signature tune, the Weather Girls hit, It's Raining Men, they were given the thumbs up by Cheryl, Louis and Dannii and will now move onto the boot camp stage of the competition.

But the duo were forced to endure the usual acerbic comments from Simon Cowell who give them a definite 'no'.

Gayna, a mum of one, told the YEP: "Simon was his usual horrid self, saying how much he hated club acts and that it looked as though Lorraine Kelly and Trisha Goddard had been forced to sing together.

"It was supposed to be a put-down, but we were quite flattered as they are both successful independent women with their own TV shows. We wouldn't mind a bit of what they've got.

"He wasn't impressed, but thankfully the others were and we were delirious. I went over to kiss Simon and said to him 'I know you didn't mean it really'.

"We can't wait for the next stage and hope we can go all the way."

The girls got together when agent Gordon Kellett spotted Gayna in a pub karaoke competition and introduced her to Heather, then a solo singer on the club circuit.

Before they even sang a note to the four judges, Cheryl asked if they were prepared to split up and re-enter as solo artists.

Gayna said: "We told them we had come as a package and there was no way we were going to consider breaking up.