X Factor's ex-convict contestant says he has nothing to hide.

Shae Brider was sent to the next stage of X Factor on Tuesday by the judges following his reggae rendition of Eminem's The Real Slim Shady. 

In Brider's introduction before his performance, he mentioned that he went to prison for six years.

"I met some dudes and we went to a bonfire ... there was a commotion with two of them and one of them stabbed the other one and he ended up passing away," he said.

Several court cases heard how Brider, Rawiri Hatata, Rio Hartley and Jordan Aranui went on a violent spree in Whanganui on Guy Fawkes night 2004, attacking four people. 

Hatata, then 17, stabbed 16-year-old Jeremy Frew through the heart at Castlecliff Beach. Brider was found guilty of manslaughter for his part in the killing.

He told the Wairarapa Times-Age he had nothing to hide and he had been upfront with the show's producers.

"Since the jail sentence I used to get so far then there's another wall put there, and then again and then again and then again," he said.

"Today it's just another wall to tear down.

"I don't need to be reminded by headlines and stuff about what happened.

"I know what I did and all I need from the public is support. I'm not looking for pity or forgiveness, just support."

Brider moved to Masterton after completing his sentence and works at a petrol station.

'IT'S JUST HORRIFIC'

Brider's victim's mother, Donna Travers, said yesterday that she was devastated at the way her son's death was discussed on the talent show.

Travers said she received no warning from TV3 that Brider would mention the death of her son, Frew, and wanted TV3 to apologise on the programme for the way it handled the matter.

Her family had been re-victimised by Brider's appearance, she said.

"We're powerless again. It's just horrific," she said.

"He [Brider] has used my son's death to get sympathy votes, and he hasn't told the truth."

It was not about Brider appearing on X Factor, which she had not seen, Travers said.

"He's got a right to have a go, it's not about that.

"It's about ... him looking like the good guy ... and obviously my family not being pre-warned that this was going to happen."

She wanted an apology on the programme for allowing Brider to give an incomplete version of events, "and putting it on without thinking about the impact it was going to have on the victim's family".

Travers said she had not only lost her son.

"(His death) has cost me my family because I can't go home ... because at home I'm the mother of the murdered child," she said.

In Melbourne, where she now lived, "I'm me".

She had a son and daughter still living in Whanganui and they were also devastated at the way their brother's death had come up on the programme.

'I FELT SICK'

Donna Travers' sister Karen Travers said she decided to watch X Factor last night because someone from Whanganui was on.

"He started saying things. I put two-and-two together. I just felt sick," Karen Travers said.

"Fair enough, he [Brider] can have a second chance . . .  but there's no need for him to say what he said," she said.

"He's saying he was in the wrong place at the wrong time . . . I don't think so."

'SHAE HAS PAID HIS DEBT'

After details of Brider's offending were published yesterday, TV3's parent company MediaWorks issued a statement saying Brider had disclosed his criminal record when he entered X Factor and as a standard part of the process a police check was run.

"It was important to include this part of Shae's background in last night's episode, and as is the case with all contestants, this was done in his own words," a spokeswoman said.

"The X Factor NZ acknowledges the impact Shae's past actions have had on his victims, and apologises for any distress that has been caused by last night's episode. 

"That was not our intention. However it is important to note the NZ justice system judges Shae has paid his debt to society, and now has a second chance to make a positive contribution."

COURT DETAILS

Brider was originally convicted of manslaughter in 2006 but the Court of Appeal set aside the conviction and he was retried in May, 2009.

The second trial saw him again convicted of manslaughter and the evidence increased his share of the blame. Brider's sentence was increased by a year after the retrial to 8-1/2 years.

Justice Joe Williams said that although it had not been shown that Brider was involved in punching Frew, he formed part of the group of attackers and was standing close behind the youth with the knife right before the stabbing.

Brider had heard one of the group bragging earlier in the night that he wanted to stab someone, and he went along with the group anyway.

The group had already attacked another man, Daniel Grey, who suffered a broken jaw, the judge said.

After Frew was fatally stabbed the four teens went on to stab another man in the back at a petrol station.

After Brider's first trial, Detective Sergeant Stu Nightingale said that in 19 years in the police he had never seen a night like the one that claimed Frew's life, and asked:

"For one set of offenders to go around like that...what on earth went through their minds?"

 - Stuff