X FACTOR outsider Stevi Ritchie says he will prove his doubters wrong tomorrow by ditching the gimmicks.

The former Stanway School pupil, 34, said viewers will be surprised by what he has in store for the Halloweenthemed show.

He said: “This week is completely different. There is not going to be any dancers.

“You’re going to see something so surprising and so different.

“I’m going to prove all the doubters out there wrong.”

This week, despite a busy rehearsing schedule, Stevi squeezed in a dinner with mentor Simon Cowell at at a budget Harvester restaurant in west London on Monday.

He said: “That was mental, it was just out of this world. We were just having a drink and a talk and a laugh.

“He’s coming to Colchester soon to come clubbing with me in Liquid.”

Read the full interview in today's Gazette.