Husband-and-wife judging duo Natalia Kills and Willy Moon have been fired from The X Factor NZ, following a scathing attack on a contestant during Sunday night’s live show.

In a statement this afternoon, MediaWorks chief executive Mark Weldon said last night both Kills and Moon made comments that were completely unacceptable.

“While the judges on X Factor are expected to provide critiques of the performances, we will not tolerate such destructive tirades from any of the judges,” he said.

“We no longer have confidence that Kills and Moon are the right people to perform the role of X Factor judges and they will leave the show, effective immediately.”

Kills, real name Natalia Noemi Cappuccini-Sinclair, and Moon avoided critiquing Joe Irvine’s performance entirely, instead accusing him of ripping off his slick new look from Moon.

"As an artist who respects creative integrity and intellectual property, I am disgusted at how much you've copied my husband," Kills began. "From the hair to the suit, do you not have any value or respect for originality?

"You're a laughing stock. It's cheesy, it's disgusting. I personally found it absolutely artistically atrocious. I am embarrassed to be sitting here in your presence even having to dignify you with an answer of my opinion."

Her husband continued the attack, saying it was "cheap and absurd".

"It's like [Psycho character] Norman Bates dressing up in his mother's clothing. It's just a little bit creepy, and I feel like you're going to stitch someone's skin to your face and then kill everybody in the audience."

"It's disgusting," added Kills. "You make me sick. It's absolutely disgusting. You have no identity, I can't stand it. I'm ashamed to be here."

X Factor NZ sponsors McDonald’s and 2degrees have both released statements to 3 News about the incident.

“We have spoken to MediaWorks regarding the incident involving Natalia Kills and Willy Moon, to make it clear that we believe the comments made were wholly unacceptable,” a McDonald’s spokesperson told 3 News.

Today’s announcement follows the launch of several Facebook pages calling for Kills to resign as a judge, with one attracting more than 50,000 ‘likes’ alone. A Change.org petition has also attracted more than 54,000 signatures.

FremantleMedia Australia’s Director of Programming, Jonathon Summerhayes, said his company was appalled at the “very poor judgement and intention” shown by the pair.

“We 100 percent support TV3 and MediaWorks in their decision to remove them.

“The X Factor does not tolerate the behaviour they displayed last night.”

X Factor NZ executive producer Andrew Szusterman said TV3 had acted decisively and in the best interests of the contestants.

“We now need to move on and give the contestants and the public the competition they deserve,” X Factor executive producer Andrew Szusterman said.

Earlier this morning fellow judges Melanie Blatt and Stan Walker slammed their colleague, with Blatt labelling Kills a “twat”, while Walker saying she was a bully whose actions were “disgusting”.

Tonight’s show will be judged by Walker and Blatt, with two new judges to be announced before next week’s show.

You can watch full episodes of The X Factor NZ here

3 News