Simon Cowell with Eoghan, Austin and ScottThey may have been all smiles a few weeks back, but  it's not looking so good for Simon Cowell's X Factor boys now.

First we hear that Austin and Scott have been scrapping, and now apparently Simon's been snubbing his acts.

According to reports, Simon hasn't spoken to his finalists for a month, despite their live TV debut being only days away.

A show source told The Daily Star: "He's not exactly been hands on. Simon is busy but he could have called to make them feel special."

While former Pontins Bluecoat Scott said: "He's always in LA doing promotion for American Idol, flitting here and there."

But Scott, Austin and Eoghan haven't been left to their own devices - Si's personal assistant has apparently been on hand to help them out. An X Factor spokeswoman told the newspaper: "Simon has been away but has a team of experts, who he is in constant contact with, working with his singers."

Experts or no, it's not quite what we'd call mentoring.

New judge Cheryl Cole, on the other hand, has been growing close to her acts, going so far as to invite Diane, Alexandra and Laura over for dinner.

We'll see whose method works best in the first live show on Saturday night.

Find out when X Factor is next on.