Light on drama these days, ‘American Idol’ shocked viewers this morning by announcing the sudden departure of contestant Jermaine Jones.

According to reports, producers decided to safe-guard the show’s “family friendly” image by axing the New Jersey vocal coach for not disclosing his criminal record. One which features arrests for violent conduct and giving police a false name, as well as alleged outstanding warrants.

Jones was confronted with the news by the show’s producers in tense scenes that are set to air during tonight’s episode on Fox.

Taking to Twitter today, the 25 year old (dubbed the the “gentle giant”) wrote:

‘Awww I will no longer b on the show.’

However, the tweet was swiftly removed, likely at the request of Idol so as to whip up buzz, speculation, and ultimately ratings going into tonight’s show.

————————–

The quest for stardom sees some folk do anything to nab the spotlight (i.e. go on a such a show, hoping it’d cleanse a dodgy past). That said, we’d put good money on Jones knowing “this” was a likelihood and simply wanting to use it as a springboard. Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Peep Jones in action below…

Your thoughts?