‘THIS is not the end’.

That was the message from East Lancashire’s rising star Reece Bibby after he arrived home following his X Factor exit.

A nail-biting finish saw Accrington’s pop prince Reece and his Stereo Kicks bandmates ousted from the show in the quarter finals.

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The 16-year-old and his seven comrades were pitted against solo act Lauren Platt in what was their third and final sing-off after receiving the fewest public votes.

Reece helped the lads pull off an impressive version of the Jason Mraz hit, I Won’t Give Up, but Lauren held her own with an amazing rendition of Queen Latifah’s I Know Where I’ve Been.

After a strong solo performance from Reece, who took a year out from St Christopher’s Sixth Form to compete in the hit ITV competition, the judges were split and the decision went back to tthe public vote.

And because the public had backed Lauren, it was Stereo Kicks who were sent packing.

Reece travelled home with his family yesterday.

His dad, Jamie, said: “The lads were gutted. It was a big blow but after they got over their initial disappointment, they just realised it’s not necessarily a really bad thing.

“Union J went out but performed at Sunday’s show, and One Direction went out only a week later than they did.

“Lots of things went wrong on Saturday. The first song wasn’t great and the boys were not happy with it, although the second song was great.

“Reece never put a foot wrong during the whole thing.”

On Saturday, the band tweeted to say they had suffered technical problems during their first of two live performances.

“In-ears cut out! Doh! Oh well... Let’s go and smash Run! WE ARE READY!”

In-ear monitors (IEMS) are devices used by musicians to listen to music or to hear a mix of vocals and instruments during live performances.

It allows them to hear the music over screaming audiences, and to make sure they don’t miss their cue.

After the performance, Reece took to Facebook to tell his fans: “We know that wasn’t the best, but we promise we can do better.”

And do better they did, with a sparkling performance of Leona Lewis’ Run, although it proved too little, too late.

Reece said: “Really tough few days adjusting back to reality, but we are going to work harder than ever as a band. Love you all.”

Reece also fired back at criticism from controversial former reality TV contestant Katie Hopkins.

Responding to tweets from Hopkins saying the boys would be ‘wishing they had spent a bit of time at school instead of practising with a hairbrush in the mirror,’ he said: “I’m 16 and got two A*s, six As, and three Bs, plus a distinction in BTEC music, so couldn’t really have spent much more time working hard.”