X Factor axed: Simon Cowell says goodbye to the show that gave us Harry Styles, Little Mix – and AbLisa

Funny, addictive and unashamedly nasty, it's no surprise The X Factor has been cancelled after 17 years on TV

I can’t be the only person surprised to hear The X Factor has been axed by overlord Simon Cowell and ITV? Not because it’s unmissable, exhilarating television, but because I thought it had been laid to rest years ago. According to ITV, there are “no current plans for the next series at this stage” news that has become fairly obvious given the most recent series aired in 2018. That was won by Dalton Harris. Who? I don’t know either.

Those of us with any appreciation for our own time – and, frankly, sanity – have not tuned into a full series of the singing competition since 2014, when (somehow) Ben Haenow won over Fleur East. The viewing figures show that X Factor peaked in 2010, when the series averaged 14.13 million viewers and introduced the world to One Direction. The numbers have dwindled year on year; that 15th, final series brought in under 6.19million (some episodes were watched by so few people, they weren’t even counted).

Still, the news that X Factor won’t be returning does leave me feeling nostalgic. Launching in 2004 (replacing Pop Idol and Popstars before it) the series has been a cultural touchstone for almost two decades and its impact on the music industry, the television landscape and an entire generation can’t be underestimated. Merely mentioning 2008 winner Alexandra Burke’s finale duet with – pause for dramatic effect – Beyoncé, still brings tears to the eyes of viewers of a certain age.

Before Love Island arrived on ITV2 in 2015, the singing show was the main pipeline out of obscurity for fame-hungry civvies, and it has, to its credit, produced some of the world’s biggest stars. Along with manufacturing One Direction, one of the biggest selling boy bands in history, the show also nurtured Little Mix, Leona Lewis, Stacey Solomon, Olly Murs, James Arthur, Rylan Clarke and Jedward – acts that by turns became genuine pop icons, beloved television presenters or meme lords of the internet.

But it’s the less talented, more tone-deaf singers we remember most fondly: Rachel who can sing better than Madonna, Dawn the apprentice jockey, the violent AbLisa, Ant and Seb, whose rendition of “Mysterious Girl” changed the song forever, holistic vocal coach Ariel who is a human being, not a number, Bun ‘nd Cheese who didn’t know a single word of their audition song, holiday camp singer Holly and her big mouth, Pink impersonator Zoe who kicked off when the judges told her they reminded them of… Pink. I could go on, but you’re already watching your favourites on YouTube.

Harry Styles original X Factor audition Screen grab from YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irKluYOMkI0
The judges panel had a never-ending rotation of celebrities (Photo: ITV/Syco)

The show was tabloid catnip, too, long before stars could share their own experiences – and reach their fans – over social media. A week didn’t go by without whispers of a new relationship (remember Diana Vickers and Eoghan Quigg?) between contestants – or a bust up. Even Simon Cowell and his ever-rotating lineup of judges, which over the years included Cheryl, Tulisa, Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland, Mel B and Rita Ora, weren’t safe – the disdain Sharon Osbourne and Dannii Minogue held for one another is very well documented.

Looking through a 2021 lens, it’s not a surprise The X Factor has been, in all senses of the word, cancelled. Audiences have grown not only wise to but tired of its predictable tearjerking formula, pop stars are more likely to be self-made, using the platforms of TikTok or YouTube than a waning TV show. And its willingness to hang its participants out to dry for public humiliation (arguably its biggest appeal at its peak) now feels at best gross and at worst incredibly irresponsible.

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The judges were very, very ‘arsh to the people brave enough to sing on national television and several past contestants have spoken about the exploitation and lack of care they received while on the show. The X Factor’s glory days are long gone, and it would be impossible to return to them.

And so, The X Factor joins Big Brother, Pop Idol and, more recently, The Circle, in the graveyard of reality TV. Goodbye, and thank you – I’d never have known Harry Styles without it.

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