Thousands of fans greeted the pair as they performed a string of hits on the first date of their nationwide tour at London's Wembley Arena.

After performances from the other eight finalists from the TV series, including Aaron Bayley, Korben and Jessica Garlick, Gareth came on stage to perform his single, Unchained Melody.

The 17-year-old followed that up by taking to the piano for a slushy duet with Zoe Birkett.

There were rumours of romance between them after Gareth broke down in tears when Zoe was voted off the show, but the pair insist they are just good friends.

That performance was followed by the main event when Will came on stage to an ecstatic welcome from the 11,000 strong crowd.

He opened with Doors classic Light My Fire, then a rendition of his number one hit, Evergreen.

Will, 23, admitted last week that he was gay but judging by the screams from the predominantly female audience the disclosure has done nothing to dent his popularity.

His single, a double A side with Anything Is Possible, looks set to hold on to the number one spot for a third week and has shifted more than 1.5 million copies so far.

The crowd at the sellout show ranged from the very young to the middle aged and the banner-waving fans looked evenly split between Gareth and Will.

Korben got down to the final 12, before Johnny Shentall was selected as the replacement for Kym Marsh.

Disgruntled fans suggested the audition process was a sham after it emerged that their new recruit had previously danced with the band onstage.

Speaking on This Morning's special Inside Pop Idol, Korben said: "I didn't feel it was a fix. At one stage, Johnny actually pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted some help with my dancing.

"Afterwards I heard he'd danced with Hear'Say before and it must have looked a bit suspicious.

"But I suppose these things happen in the music industry. The industry is only so big."

The singer is to return to his job as a communications adviser in Bedford after receiving the fewest votes from viewers.

Korben, real name Chris Niblett, said: "I didn`t declare my sexuality - it was only after it had been publicly outed that everybody knew.”

He added: "I think without that there would have been a pretty good chance of me getting through. It`s a shame that people are steered towards that way of thinking, but I think times are changing, just not quickly enough for me."

Korben posed for photographs for RainbowNetwork in 1999. He was a contestant in a Channel 5 Mr Gay UK contest in 1998.

Although his cover version of ‘In A Different Corner’ by George Michael was branded by ‘Pop Idol’ judges as “weak”, Korben said that he was satisfied with his performance.

Korben remarked that although he was now out of the contest he had hopes of being spotted by a talent scout. He said: "I could be bigger than the Pop Idol."