Billed as the "female Jedward", double act Blonde Electra have given us some of the funniest moments of this year's X Factor so far.

But sisters Jazzy and Ruby King have now revealed the heartache behind their lively exterior - a painful rift with their strictly religious father.

Speaking to Digital Spy, the US-born sisters opened up about their deprived childhood in Ukraine and about their dad's anger at their chosen career path.

Jazzy said: "We had second-hand clothes, we lived nine years in the Ukraine without running water so no showers for nine years! It was really tough to be honest with you.

"We weren't allowed to listen to music, no TV – I didn't know who Madonna was until I was 15. We actually left home when she was 12 and I was 15 to go and sing in a nightclub.

"And I just feel like we've been through the mill through our lives and I just feel like life's too short to sit around and be bummed out.

"You have to be positive, you have to stay happy, and we are here today because of our positive attitudes towards it."

Asked about their parents' thoughts on their pop dream, she said: "Oh, they're not happy. Our dad, he thinks we're going to hell. He thinks he's God's prophet."

And Ruby elaborated: "Our dad is very religious. He's got his own crazy ideologies of what he thinks it's all about so no. As Jazzy said, we didn't grow up with music, we didn't grow up with movies and all that stuff, so being on the show for my parents is like the worst thing that could have ever happened."

Jazzy also revealed that their father had been sending them emails urging them not to take part in the show.

"We were singing our whole lives but we were doing things like Christian music that my dad wrote," she began.

"He's not happy about it. And he writes us these crazy emails saying, 'Repent' and that we're sinners. All in capitals with exclamation marks."

But she also insisted that they were keen to heal the rift.

"We have a very love hate relationship with our dad because he's batsnap crazy. He's absolutely mental.

"So I always feel like we need to get back together because our dad is very old – he's 74 years old. We know that he doesn't have that much longer."

In other X Factor news, The Sun reports that the hopefuls left in the contest are being kept on a tight leash at the home they are sharing in North London - with a junk food ban and a strict curfew in place.

Jazzy was quoted as saying: "We're not allowed downstairs after 12pm and we're not allowed in each other's bedrooms after 9pm."

And Parisa Tarjomani from group Only The Young added: "We're not allowed peanut butter, candy or fast food."