It was the iconic Saturday night singing contest that was as much about the drama as the thousands of hopefuls dreaming of instant stardom.
asserted
that → dream → stardom
From the unseemly spats between The X Factor’s celebrity judges – both on and off air – to the burgeoning romances between contestants, it was television (and ratings) gold for ITV, with millions tuning in every week at its peak.
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millions → burgeon → peak
Simon Cowell, who created the format and was head judge, revelled in it all – never has there been a man who enjoys column inches so much.
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who → create → inches
Now, eight years after the final curtain came down on the last series of The X Factor, amid floundering viewing figures, the show is set to return.
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show → come → figures
And the gargantuan task of pulling off this prime-time comeback, I hear, is provoking just as much drama as the show generated in its heyday.
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show → pull → heyday
As one insider tells me: ‘The problem with The X Factor was always that there were so many people involved – you had ITV, Simon Cowell’s team and the production company, Talkback Thames.
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you → tell → ITV
That is why so many of the disagreements happened.
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many → happen → disagreements
Many of them were around money and that hasn’t changed.
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that → change → money
One of those big disagreements is said to be between ITV and Talkback, who are yet to finalise the fee the network will pay to broadcast the show.
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network → say → show
Half of that fee will go to Cowell, who owns the format and will have the final say on any decisions about how the show is made.
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show → go → decisions
And those unresolved negotiations have led to an unedifying briefing war against ITV’s other singing show, The Voice, which moved from the BBC in 2017.
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which → lead → 2017
Simon Cowell with Cheryl Tweedy in the judges' houses episode of The X Factor back in 2018
‘The Voice has always been a thorn in The X Factor’s side,’ says Katie Hind's insider.
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insider → say → side
The Voice is judged by Danny Jones, will.i.am, Kelly Rowland, Sir Tom Jones and Tom Fletcher
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Voice → judge → Jones
The aim, sources say, is to drive up the cost for The X Factor as much as possible by spreading allegations – very publicly – that The Voice isn’t doing well.
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Voice → say → allegations
The show opened with a peak audience of 2.5 million in its Saturday night slot two weeks ago, which is a respectable figure on terrestrial channels today but doesn’t compare to the 19.4 million who watched Matt Cardle win The X Factor in 2010.
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Cardle → open → 2010
‘The Voice has always been a thorn in The X Factor’s side,’ says my insider.
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insider → say → side
‘It was once its BBC rival but when it moved to ITV things got very vicious on The X Factor side of things.
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things → move → things
It used The Voice as a stick to beat ITV with to get more money.’
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It → use → money
The other sticking point that has led to ‘very irked people’ is Cheryl Tweedy’s move to The Voice.
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that → lead → Voice
In nabbing the ex-Girls Aloud star, the show has denied The X Factor its hugely popular former judge as a mentor for the next series, which starts being filmed this month.
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which → nab → series
‘Even though she has been out of the limelight for a long time, she’s a national treasure, people love her,’ says the source.
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source → ’ → her
Despite the row over money between ITV and Talkback, the numbers this time are significantly smaller than the eyewatering deals between Cowell and ITV in the past.
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numbers → eyewatere → past
Regardless, Cowell will not allow it to be made cheaply.
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it → allow → ?
‘He has far, far too much pride to do that,’ says a source who knows him.
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who → have → him
‘He’s a perfectionist.’
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He → ’ → ?
That has left ITV, which is struggling financially, with a problem: It needs to find a way to afford it.
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It → leave → it
In previous years, individual judges’ salaries alone were reported to be £1.5 million for the series – and up to £10 million for Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda Field.
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salaries → report → Williams
‘Back in the day, each live episode might have cost around £1 million to make,’ says the source.
uncertain
source → cost → million
‘But back then, ITV made a lot of money from advertising.
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ITV → make → advertising
That doesn’t happen anymore, so you are looking at a huge reduction in costs.
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you → happen → costs
It would have half of the old sum, if not less.
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It → have → sum
‘Like other terrestrial broadcasters, ITV doesn’t have the money it used to have so it will struggle to make a big budget show now, but then Cowell won’t cut corners.
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Cowell → have → corners
‘The problem for ITV is that Simon holds the keys.
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Simon → hold → keys
The X Factor cannot come back without his blessing and if it isn’t going to be up to his high standards then it won’t happen.’
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it → come → standards
I’m told one solution might be to have fewer live shows and more pre-recorded room auditions, which are cheaper to make.
uncertain
which → tell → shows
As for the judges, sources at ITV say the channel is ‘beyond obsessed’ with influencers, while Talkback Thames is minded to stay with traditional celebrities.
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Thames → say → celebrities
'Simon Cowell, who created the X Factor format and was head judge, revelled in it all – never has there been a man who enjoys column inches so much,' writes Katie Hind
In nabbing ex-Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole, fellow ITV music show The Voice has denied The X Factor its hugely popular former judge as a mentor for the next series
The X Factor final in 2010 earned 19.4 million viewers, who all watched Matt Cardle (centre) win.
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Cardle → create → viewers
He beat runner-up Rebecca Ferguson and third-place finalist One Direction
Simon, however, won’t be taking centre stage again, sources have stressed.
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sources → beat → stage
The live shows are a gruelling commitment and I understand he would rather do a second Netflix series.
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he → understand → series
His first, Simon Cowell: The Next Act, last year created the boyband December 10.
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first → create → boyband
…and 13 more, not listed.
