Another week, another claim that The X Factor is fixed.
This time, however, it’s not fans of the show sniping that Honey G’s continued success is part of some nefarious plot by Simon to ensure she wins the show.
No! This time, viewers have been enraged by the show’s latest gimmick – the musical wheel of fortune jukebox.
Show host Dermot O’Leary introduced us to the giant (cardboard!) wheel at the start of the live results shows last month and explained that each week he would spin the wheel to determine which musical theme the following week’s show would be.
With categories on the jukebox including such varied themes as divas, rock, fright night, 80s and movies, viewers were under the impression that wherever the wheel stopped was purely down to chance.
But this week, suspicions were seriously raised that all was not as it seemed when, on last night’s show Dermy span the wheel to decide what style of songs would be played at next week’s Halloween weekend show – only for the wheel to stop spinning on the conveniently appropriate “Fright Night”.
Wow. Coincidence right?
Well, viewers clearly didn’t seem to think so and headed straight to social media to vent – after all what else do people do on a Sunday night when they should really be spending some quality family time talking to each other?!
Viewer Nicholas Dival raged: “What were the actual chances! That’s great news and such a complete surprise! Said no one. At all. Ever.”
Laura Finney said: “Who exactly do xfactor think they’re kidding with their fixed juke box thing?”
Another viewer, Aaron Hunt, piped up: “I mean the #xfactor Jukebox is really random, not rigged at all. #frightnight was just a massive coincidence, let’s pretend we are shocked”
Viewer Tony Horne suggested that the coincidence merely showed X Factor up to be a fake, saying: “100 per cent proof that #xfactor is a disgrace and the public are lied to. As predicted.
Even Corrie’s Sally Ann Matthews (that’s Jenny Platt to you and us) waded in, commenting: “What were the actual chances! That’s great news and such a complete surprise! Said no one. At all. Ever. x”
But the coincidence wasn’t missed by Dermot, who bent over in disbelief when Fright Night popped up, while even the judges got to their feet to applaud the luck of the spin.
A spokesperson for the show once again stressed that the series is not fixed: “Themes on the jukebox are genuinely chosen by random choice. It’s pure coincidence.”
Pull the other one, it’s got a pumpkin on it!