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X FACTOR star Chico may have exceeded the drink-drive limit because he took cough medicine before being breathalysed, a court has heard.

The 54-year-old singer – who donned a fur coat and cowboy hat to court – pleaded not guilty to drink-driving in Southgate, London, on December 13.

Chico – whose real name is Yousseph Slimani – appeared in the 2005 series of the TV talent show and later released a number one single, It’s Chico Time.

He is accused of driving a Vauxhall Astra with 40 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, Willesden Magistrates’ Court heard on Tuesday.

The legal limit of alcohol for driving in England is 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres.

Chico had consumed cough medicine before giving the reading and that could have impacted its accuracy, Sarah King, defending, said.

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Slimani pleaded not guilty and was given bail until his trial on April 9.

Welsh-born Chico found fame after reaching the quarter finals of the X Factor in 2005.

Simon Cowell famously walked out of his initial X Factor audition after fellow judges Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne voted him through.

In 2006, Chico had a number one hit on the British charts titled It’s Chico Time, which became his signature catchphrase.

In 2008, he appeared on the reality TV show CelebAir alongside socialite Tamara Beckwith and singer Lisa Maffia.

In 2010, Slimani recorded a single in support of the English Football Team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, aptly called “It’s England Time”, a play on “It’s Chico Time”.

He also competed in ITV’s 2012 series of Dancing on Ice.

In 2018, he was rushed to hospital after suffering a stroke.

Recently, he launched his own fitness app called Block Fit which includes workout classes based around his hits.

Chico married singer Daniyela Rakic, sister of Wimbledon Champion Nenad Zimonjić, and the couple have two children.

The Kings and Ducks backed into Saturday’s rivalry game at Crypto.com Arena.

The Kings came out of the NHL’s three-day holiday break having lost six of their last seven, scoring just 11 goals over that span. Only two teams in the Western Conference have been worst in December.

The Ducks hadn’t been much better, though, having won just two of their last seven to give up their lead in the Pacific Division. But the league rules said somebody had to win Saturday and that proved to be the Kings, who rode a four-goal first period and Alex Laferriere’s first career hat trick to a dominant 6-1 victory that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.

Drew Doughty put the Kings in front to stay just three minutes after the opening faceoff, finding open ice on the edge of the crease, where he took a pass from Quinton Byfield and deflected it past Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal. The second assist on the goal went to former Duck Corey Perry.

Trevor Moore doubled the lead less than a minute later, redirecting in a feed from Brian Dumoulin in the left circle. Ducks coach Joel Quenneville responded by calling a 30-second timeout in an effort to settle his team.

That didn’t work, with Laferriere blasting a one-timer by Dostal from just outside the crease to make it 3-0 with 9:39 left in the first period. When Byfield scored on a power play in the final minute, the Kings had their first four-goal period of the season and their first four-goal game in nearly three weeks.

After being booed off the ice at the end of their last game, a 3-2 loss to Seattle on Wednesday, the Kings left to cheers for the first intermission.

The Ducks finally got on the board when Mason McTavish scored on the power play midway through the second period. They worked hard for that goal, outshooting the Kings 12-1 in the period, yet coming away with just the one score.

Laferriere wound up matching that less than five minutes into the third period, scoring on a breakaway to give him the third multi-goal game of his career and his first this season. Dumoulin and Anze Kopitar both got their second assists on the goal.

And Laferriere wasn’t done, scoring his 10th goal on a one-timer from the high slot at 13:15 of the final period. The six goals for the Kings matched their season high and was one short of what they had scored in their last four games combined.