Reports have come out that The X Factor is in jeopardy and looks set to be axed.
The shock news comes as The Daily Star revealed that pod auditions for the next series had very few attendees in Kent this week.
A pod audition is where pop hopefuls record their audition in a booth and not in front of producers and judges.
According to the paper, only a handful of people turned up at Dreamland in Margate in a bid to find the UK’s next big star.
But don’t worry folks, the show isn’t dead in the water just yet.
After all, we reported earlier this week that producers plan to run the show live over a week just like Britain’s Got Talent in a bid to rejuvenate the weary series..
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X Factor spies have hit back that the pod turn out was smaller because this wasn’t part of the main audition process.
“These are the small scale pod auditions where people drop by – not the large scale events filmed for TV which will happen later in spring,” the insider explained.
“The numbers for Kent were more than last year and these smaller auditions are successful – James Arthur auditioned this way and he’s now got a double platinum single”.
An official X Factor spokesperson said: “The numbers are higher than last year for Kent so it isn’t a poor turnout.
“Overall we’ve had tens of thousands of people apply for this series so numbers are healthy.”
Of the few hopefuls who turned up was serial auditionee Philip Hadlow.
He was the 47-year-old who first tried his luck back in 2009 and last year was seen mangling a Rick Astley track.
Not put off that Simon Cowell told him “This isn’t working”, he has returned this year with a self-penned ballad about being rejected from the show. Hmmm…
Another hopeful in the crowd was Hercules Smith.
Who?
He was the teary muscle-bound wannabe on the BBC’s Let It Shine.
The 34-year-old dad made it to week five of Gary Barlow’s musical theatre show and was one fifth of band Nightfall.
Obviously he didn’t make it, but he’s taking failure on the chin.
“Let it Shine was my stepping stone but I don’t think it was the right competition for me,” he told Kent Live:
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“Looking at The X Factor, Saara Alto that was on there – she has a big voice – and I also think that I can sing a whole lot of genres with the voice that I have.”