In week 5 of "The X Factor" knockout stages, The Conways found themselves in the final showdown for the first time, facing the judges' expulsion vote together with crowd favourite Maria Lawson. Lawson was voted off on the casting vote of Louis Walsh, prompting booing from the studio audience and fellow judge Sharon Osbourne to claim that "he voted with his passport" (referring to the fact that both Walsh and the Conway Sisters are Irish). The decision provoked controversy in the UK media, especially when it was revealed that Walsh had known the Conways personally prior to the competition.