SINGAPORE - The producers of hit reality TV singing contest Sing! China have hit back at media reports saying the show is rigged.

Eason Chan, one of the show's celebrity mentors, gave an interview on a ViuTV talk show earlier this month where he revealed that a director on the show had suggested he and another mentor, Na Ying, push the button and choose a contestant whom they would not have otherwise selected.

Chan added that there was a contestant who was allowed to go through blind auditions twice, which further fuelled talk that the entire show was in fact rigged.

But the show's producers say his words were taken out of context.

In a statement released on Thursday night (Oct 12), Sing! China producers explained that contest rules had always allowed a select number of contestants to go through blind auditions a second time, as long as the mentors and the show producers agreed on it together.

The statement added that Chan had been asked in the same talk show whether he thought there were any unfair proceedings in the show and he had replied "I believe there were none". But this line was snipped from promotions for the episode.