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Natalie proves how brave she was when she confronts her X Factor critics - Propped atop a spotted grey pony, a sight of silk tulle and diamantes, if you are going to look at her, she looks more like a wedding cake decoration than a hot-shot hoop.

 
 
Propped atop a spotted grey pony, a sight of silk tulle and diamantes, if you are going to look at her, she looks more like a wedding cake decoration than a hot-shot hoop. However, to consider her as just another diminutive diva to be walked all over would be a serious mistake. Mel B. finally discovered that there is more steel in her spine than she thought. And audiences love her for having it. Copping flack for becoming the mentor of the under-25 female singers this year, which include teen sensations Shiane Hawke and Bella Ferraro, Bassingthwaighte finally slipped back at her "sniping" co-stars. After weeks of getting criticized, by her fellow judges Ronnan Keating over her song choices for the teens, she was finally able to let herself lose. As seen on the Seven Network talent show, Keating was criticizing Bassingthwaighte for her selection of an Adele song for 14-year-old Hawke, who seemed to be shocked by the war of words that erupted in front of her. The Irish singer accused his fellow mentor of exposing the young singer's vulnerability and described the performance as below the standard required in winning the competition. He railed: "We're trying to find a star who will sell records internationally... they need to be able to stand on a stage beside singers like Adele and perform." Mel B also butted in. As Bassingthwaighte tells Hit: "I just had enough." "It had gone on and on, and I just turned to Ronan and said: 'Are you finished? Are you finished?' "Watching it back that night I thought, 'maybe I should have held my tongue' but you just get sick of the sniping, and I could see my girls getting upset, so I was having none of it." She finally finds the courage to speak her mind on the series has taken a while, the 37-year-old confessed. "I think I've got more comfortable with the process of the show. I know what I'm doing now, and that's given me the confidence to speak up. "I don't feel quite so bullied as I did last year, and with that strength I'm in a different headspace. "We all had a chuckle at the end of the show. We do get feisty, but we're all just passionate about what we're doing. And we all want to win, '' she says with a laugh. "I am very protective of the girls, both of them. Maybe it's a maternal thing. "I feel really balanced this year. I don't feel I am talking too much, whereas last year I would come off stage and just feel stressed. "(But) you've just got to let it go, sometimes." Not letting the small stuff affects her surely helps the working mum to balance her professional and private lives and the time she gets to spend with two-year-old daughter Harper.
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