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Tag: X Factor

Read the latest news and analysis of X Factor. Browse THEGAYUK’s entire archive on news about X Factor contestants and shows.

  • Will anyone actually watch the X Factor final?

    Will anyone actually watch the X Factor final?

    The X Factor final is looking to be the lowest rated to date, according to bookmakers.

    The X Factor is odds-on at 8/11 with Betway to pull in its lowest ever final viewership this weekend.

    The long-running singing competition has seen its ratings drop in recent years and 8/11 says this 2018 edition could also be responsible for the lowest ever series viewership, which currently stands at 6.52million.

    THEGAYUK.com recently revealed that only one only gay contestant had won the X Factor, but the show had spawned at least four homophobic winners.

    Worryingly the X Factor has produced more winners who have been revealed to have been homophobic or tweeted anti-gay comments than actual LGBT winners.

    In 2014 James Arthur was eventually dumped by his record label after it emerged that he released a diss track in which he used the term “f**king queer”. In 2018 it was revealed, days before she was to headline Birmingham Pride that Louisa Johnson had repeatedly used the slur “faggot” on Twitter. Birmingham Pride did not cancel her appearance, despite calls from pride goers. The first ever winner of the show, Steve Brookstein once said that he wished the openly gay gossip columnist Dan Wootton had HIV.

    So who will win?

    The leading online bookmaker is not ruling out the possibility of this being the last ever series, going 10/1 for 2018 to be curtains for the long-running show, with Dalton Harris the 1/4 favourite to triumph on Saturday.

    Betway’s Alan Alger said, “Having been on our screens for 15 years, X Factor’s popularity has dwindled and we are 8/11 for this weekend to see the show’s lowest ever final viewership.

    “Dalton Harris is 1/4 to win the series but then it could be curtains for the show altogether, as we go 10/1 for this edition to be the last ever one, though it’s never over until the fat lady sings.”

  • Has anyone gay ever won the X Factor?

    Has anyone gay ever won the X Factor?

    The X Factor has become a mainstay of British weekend television and has given us fourteen winning acts. But have any of them identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender?

    First off, there has never been an openly transgender winner of X Factor, there also has never been an openly lesbian or bisexual winner. There has been just one openly gay man to win the biggest talent competition in the UK – and he wasn’t even out when he took part in the competition.

    Joe McElderry is the only gay person to win the show. He won the competition in 2009 – however, he wasn’t openly gay during the competition and denied rumours surrounding his sexuality. He came out after the show in an exclusive interview with The Mirror newspaper – which called his decision to come out as “brave”.

    More worryingly the X Factor has produced more winners who have been revealed to have been homophobic or tweeted anti-gay comments than actual LGBT winners.

    In 2014 James Arthur was eventually dumped by his record label after it emerged that he released a diss track in which he used the term “f**king queer”. In 2018 it was revealed, days before she was to headline Birmingham Pride that Louisa Johnson had repeatedly used the slur “faggot” on Twitter. Birmingham Pride did not cancel her appearance, despite calls from pride goers. The first ever winner of the show, Steve Brookstein once said that he wished the openly gay gossip columnist Dan Wootton had HIV.

     

    Here’s the complete list of winners of X Factor since 2001

    2004 Steve Brookstein

    2005 Shayne Ward

    2006 Leona Lewis

    2007 Leon Jackson

    2008 Alexandra Burke

    2009 Joe McElderry

    2010 Matt Cardle

    2011 Little Mix

    2012 James Arthur

    2013 Sam Bailey

    2014 Ben Haenow

    2015 Louisa Johnson

    2016 Matt Terry

    2017 Rak Su

  • People are calling out Louis Walsh for grabbing Mel B’s bum

    People on Twitter are calling out Louis Walsh after patting her bum live on national TV.

    The clip, which has surfaced on Twitter was taken from an X Factor roundup show a few years ago and shows judge, Louis Walsh patting the former Spice Girl’s behind. The clip has been watched over 4.5 million times on the social platform.

    After Mel B calls out Walsh on why he is touching her inappropriately, Simon Cowell is seen joking to Mel,  “you’re safe” which some have found to be problematic. Louis says he was doing it to “look after” the star.

    “Why are you grabbing my butt”

    During the interview, Walsh can be seen tapping the singer’s butt while Mel B starts to look uncomfortable and looks off-screen before confronting Walsh. She then stops the interview, mid-flow and asks Walsh directly, “Why are you grabbing my butt?”.

    Walsh replies, “I’m looking after Mel.”

    Simon Cowell, whose company Syco owns the format for the show, jokes, “honestly you’re safe”.

    After Mel calls Walsh out, she physically moves herself away from Louis, before the interview continues.

    People are now calling on TV execs to remove him from TV shows and for Walsh to apologise for his actions. Unrelated, it was announced that Louis Walsh would not be returning to judge The X Factor for this year’s show.

    Many people have assumed that Walsh is gay, but in 2013 in an interview with the Sunday Times, when asked whether he was gay or straight he replied, “I can’t… Don’t go there. I can’t. I think your private life is your private life…I’m happy. Happy as Larry!”

    He’s never been married and has never publicly acknowledged anyone as a partner, however, he was spotted by one of our showbiz insiders at the Balans restaurant in South Beach, Florida, accompanied by a lovely looking tall dark and handsome type a few years back.

    THEGAYUK.com reached out ITV for comment.

  • X Factor 2017 star comes out

    As straight – and denies he’s done anything with any guy … like ever.

    Jack and Joel

    Yep even in 2017, you can come out as straight – especially when the world thinks that you are gay (supposedly) – well that’s according to X Factor‘s Joel Fishel. Oh, and in case you were ever wondering, Jack and Joel aren’t an actual real-life couple.

    Apparently even Joel’s mumma thought he was gay, saying, “if you’re gay you know that would be OK, don’t you.”

    So why do people think that Joel, who is one half of the duo Jack And Joel is gay – well he tells the Daily Star, “Everyone just presumes I’m gay and that me and Jack are a couple. But I’m straight.

    “I’ve always been a little bit camp and effeminate.

    “I used to dress up in swimming costumes when I was younger.

    “But I’ve never done anything with another guy. That’s just who I am, but I’m comfortable with my sexuality.”

    He then added that it was ironic that he had to “come out” as straight – imagine in 2017 having to come out as straight.

    He remarked that people found it “strange” that he and his performance partner, Jack Remington, who is gay, could be so close.

    Jack and Joel were eliminated from this weekend’s show, which centred around the songs of the late George Michael.

     

     

     

  • Surprise… Louis got the boys

    Well, it’s that time of year again… Where the X Factor contestants are carved up like meat and slung to the judges… This time round Louis got the boys.

    The boys stand waiting for their mentor to make an entrance. They have no idea that Louis is behind the door – and could lead them to X Factor victory.

    In a change to the norm, Louis Walsh got the boys this year, having only officially had them once before – he also had the under 25s in one of the first shows, before the boys became their own category.

    This year, though, Louis is in with a good chance of winning the series, as the boys’ category has tended to do well with the voting audience at home, with the category winning six times, more than any other category in the competition.

    Surprise lads! Louis is your mentor!
    Louis gives the boys a pep talk… Let the battle commence.

    Usually, Louis – the longest-serving judge on the X Factor, mentors the groups, having done so 6 times in the past. Louis has taken part in every season of the X Factor, apart from two years ago, when he was replaced by Nick Grimshaw in a massive programme shakeup.

    However, he and Sharon Osborne were reunited last year – when the show’s execs decided to bring back the original judging line up.

    The boys will now, have to go through the six chair challenge and then be taken to the judge’s houses where they will have to impress Louis and a guest judge before they are able to appear on the live shows.

  • X Factor is back and with the worst ratings since 2004

    Oh dear, Simon Cowell won’t be happy!

    x factor ratings are down

    X Factor is back and apparently has suffered the worst launch ratings since 2004 with an average of 6 million people tuning in, according to Digital Spy.

    The 14th series launched on Saturday with judges, Louis Walsh, Sharon Osborne, Nicole Scherzinger and Simon, a usually winning combination, but it failed to get the numbers in – with the show’s audience rivalling that of the 2004 launch. Last year’s launch had 6.8 million people watching.

    Those ratings are expected to rise after all catch up streams are accounted for.

    But it must be a worry for ITV bosses as the BBC’s rival, Strictly Come Dancing hasn’t even started yet!

    It’s a far cry from the near 11 million people who would tune in during the show’s peak and, we’re sure,  it won’t be long before people are calling for the show’s axe.

  • When will the X Factor 2017 start and who is judging it this year?

    Summer 2017 sees the return of one Britain’s most popular show, the X Factor. When does it start, who is hosting it and who are the judges?

    when does the new series of X Factor start?

    Simon Cowell has already hinted that there will be many new surprises to delight and retain viewers.

    After last year’s dismal ratings, Simon Cowell has hinted that there will be many changes to the 2017 format of X Factor, including a new location for auditions, six weeks of live shows instead of 10 and no more novelty acts, like Honey G, that have blighted the show for years. For fans of the Jukebox, it will not be returning to the 2017 series after Simon ruled it out in July.

    When does X Factor 2017 start?

    Although the show’s first episode air date has not yet been announced, you can expect it to be at the end of August. This is when the show usually starts and takes viewers right up until Christmas. It has historically launched on the last weekend of August. Dermot O’Leary is returning for hosting duties.

    Who is judging the X Factor 2017?

    Don’t expect too many changes to the lineup from 2016. Simon, Nicole, Sharon and Louis Walsh will all be returning, however, there are rumours that several guest judges will be making a stop to shake things up.

    After years of fixing and rejigging the judging panel, this is the first time that the show will have exactly the same judging panel as the previous year. A source said that the “chemistry was perfect” among the judges.

    Where will the Judge’s Houses be in this year’s X Factor?

    As always, the location of the judge’s houses is a secret – you’ll have to wait until the shows to find out more.

    Who won last year’s X Factor?

    In case you’ve forgotten – so much has happened since last year’s finale, Matt Terry won out the series – followed by Saara Alto.

     

     

     

  • X Factor runner ups: Where are they now?

    X Factor runner ups: Where are they now?

    Sometimes the runner up acts do better than the actual winner – actually, this is pretty much standard practice. We have a look at the X Factor runner ups to see where they’re today and how their careers panned out.

     

  • 1 Series 1
  • 2 Series 2
  • 3 Series 3
  • 4 Series 4
  • 5 Series 5
  • 6 Series 6
  • 7 Series 7
  • 8 Series 8
  • 9 Series 9
  • 10 Series 10
  • 11 Series 11
  • 12 Series 12
  • 13 Series 13

     

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    h2>Series 1

    Series 1

    G4

    Embed from Getty Images

    The classical pop-opera lads released four albums, with three of them being successful. They disbanded in 2007 apparently because they were “sick” of each other. An attempted re-band was made in 2015 when they released their flop Christmas album G4 Christmas. Only three of the original members performed on the album after Matthew Stiff decided not to rejoin. They lost out to Steve Brookstein.

     

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    h2>Series 1

    Andy Abraham

    Embed from Getty Images

    Who can forget the Dustbin man turned pop star Andy Abrahams. He released 3 studio albums and a “best of” however only two of those albums charted. Andy can now be spotted on stage performing in musicals. He lost out to Shayne Ward.

     

     

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    h2>Series 3

    Ray Quinn

    Ray Quinn
    CREDIT: Ray Quinn/ Instagram

    Ray Quinn has become a bit of body builder since his time in X Factor, he’s also appearing in musicals. He released just one album Doing It My Way, which reached number 1 in the UK and sold over 300,000 copies. He lost out to Leona Lewis.

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    h2>Series 4

    Rhydian

    Embed from Getty Images

    Who could forget the platinum blonde Welshman. Losing out to Leon Jackon in 2007 didn’t harm Rhydian’s recording career having released five albums. The first two managed to achieve Platinum and Gold sales status. The following three managed to reach the top 40. Oh, and he got most of his clothes off when he played Rocky in Rocky Horror!

     

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    h2>Series 5

    JLS

    Embed from Getty Images

    JLS are the only boyband to come runner up, but not the most successful one – that crown goes to One Direction who actually came third in series 7. JLS has a slew of hits including 5 number one singles. They also released four albums all of which entered the top 3 in the charts. They disbanded in 2013 and left fans with a compilation album called Goodbye.

     

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    h2>Series 6

    Olly Murs

    CREDIT: Olly Murs / Instagram

    Olly is probably the most successful solo male artist to come out of X Factor having clocked up four number one albums and four number one singles. Thirteen of his 20 singles have reached the top 20. He’s also gone on to become a TV presenter. He lost out to Joe McElderry.

     

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    h2>Series 7
    Rebecca Ferguson

    Embed from Getty Images

    Rebecca was the first woman to come runner up on the X Factor has she’s gone on to release a number of albums and is a spokeswoman for Walkers Crisps. She also opened a shop called Beauty Boudoir in 2012. She lost out to Matt Cardle.

     

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    h2>Series 8

    Marcus Collins

    Marcus Collins
    CREDIT: Monty McKinnen

    Marcus was the only openly gay finalist to come runner up. He released an album but is now appearing on stage in various musicals. Including Kinky Boots and Hairspray. He lost out to Little Mix.

     

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    h2>Series 9

    Jahméne Douglas

    Jahmene Douglas
    CREDIT: PR Supplied

    Jahméne has a largely forgettable career despite being hailed as one of the X Factor‘s best vocalists ever. He’s released a number of albums, but it’s his seemingly changing face that keeps him in the public spotlight. He lost out to James Arthur in 2012.

     

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    h2>Series 10

    Nicholas McDonald

    Embed from Getty Images

    I mean who knows what’s happened to Nicholas? He released one album called In the Arms Of An Angel which reached number 6 in the UK charts. He lost out to Sam Bailey.

     

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    h2>Series 11

    Fleur East

    Fleur was hot favourite to achieve massive world-wide successful after she was the first to sing “Uptown Funk” during the live shows. However, her career has seemingly and sadly stalled after her second and third single “More and More” and “Breakfast” failed to chart.  They were both from her 2015 album Love, Sax and Flashbacks which only managed to achieve 60,000 sales in the UK. She has resigned with another Sony Music label and hopes to launch an international singing career. She lost out to Ben Haenow.

     

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    h2>Series 12

    Reggie ‘n’ Bollie

    Embed from Getty Images

    Reggie ‘n’ Bollie were the second group to become runner-up from the X Factor have largely fallen out of the public eye since placing second. They released two singles, the first of which achieved a charted of 26, the second failed to chart.  They lost out to Louisa Johnson.

     

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    h2>Series 13

    Saara Aalto

    Saara Aalto
    ©Thames / Syco

    It’s too early to tell how Saara’s career post X Factor will turn out, but she’s already made history by becoming the first openly bisexual woman to reach the final.

  • People think that Matt Terry and Freddy Parker are a couple after on screen kiss

    Fans of the X Factor are speculating that winner, Matt Terry and finalist Freddy Parker are boyfriends after they seemingly locked lips live on TV.

    Speculation over whether Matt and Freddy are in a relationship together is in overdrive this morning after the pair seemingly locked lips during the live broadcast of ITV’s X Factor final last night. Matt Terry became the winner of the competition after beating Saara Aalto to the number one spot. Over 6.4 million votes were cast.

    However, numerous eagle-eyed fans have taken to Twitter to rewatch a clip showing the moment where it seems as though, Matt and Freddy locked lips – for quite some time. It was during the reveal of Matt Terry’s winner’s single, the Ed Sheeran penned, “When Christmas Comes Around”.  All of the show’s finalists swarmed onto the stage to congratulate the Bromley heartthrob on his win. It was then that the two men seemed to kiss. The moment was obscured by the gathering, however, viewers could see the tops of Matt and Freddy’s heads.

     

    This comes after rumours that two, unnamed finalists were in a secret relationship.

    CREDIT: Freddy parker / Instagram

     

    Another finalist, Gifty Louise poured cold water over the gossip when she tweeted,

    “lol Matt and Freddy are not together. Bloody hell ??”

     

    Saara Aalto made history during yesterday’s performance becoming the first openly gay woman to reach the finals of X Factor. Had she won she would have been the only openly LGBT singer (at the time of the competition) to achieve the top spot. The only openly gay runner-up was Marcus Collins in 2011. The only now openly gay singer to win the X Factor is Joe McElderry, however, he was not out at the time of his win.

    View this post on Instagram

    Matt Terry’s Christmas single, “When Christmas Comes Around” is available now.

     

     

  • Saara Aalto makes X Factor history after being first openly gay woman into the finals

    Saara Aalto makes X Factor history after being first openly gay woman into the finals

    Saara Aalto has made history by becoming the first openly gay woman to reach the finals of the X Factor.

    Saara Aalto
    ©Thames / Syco

    Saara Aalto‘s journey to the finals is history making, after she became the first LGBT woman to reach the finals of ITV’s X Factor. She missed out on the top spot after Matt Terry won the competition outright. Saara Aalto had been the firm favourite to win the competition with one excited fan putting a £30,000 bet on the Finnish singer to win this year’s competition.

    The powerhouse vocalist revealed that she was engaged to be married to her girlfriend, Meri, during the series. The pair have been partners for a number of years and are considered one of the only openly gay celebrity couples in their native Finland.

    To date the only other runner-up to out at the time of the show is Marcus Collins. No one, who was openly gay at the time of the competition, has won the X Factor. Joe McElderry who won series 6 came out after he won the show.

    It has been reported the Saara Aalto actually wanted to come second in the competition. According to the Sun, the 29-year-old revealed that, “‘Coming second would be better than the number one spot, as it would mean having the freedom that the winner does not”.

    Saara has ready released a number of albums in Finland, including this Christmas one.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Saara Aalto already has a Christmas hit album and it’s AMAZING

    Saara Aalto already has a Christmas hit album and it’s AMAZING

    This year’s favourite to win X Factor Saara Aalto already has a Christmas hit – in the form of the classic Christmas album and it’s absolutely amazing.

    Saara Aalto
    ©Thames / Syco

    Saara Aalto is the best female vocalist the X Factor has had in a long time and it seems as though she’s already had a Christmas hit album called Angels which she released in 2011.

    The album features Christmas hits such as “Walking In The Air” and this amazing version of “O Holy Night”.

    The singer who had a rocky start in her time with the juggernaut show said that she feared an anti-gay backlash and felt forced to live a lie after getting engaged to her girlfriend in the summer. She revealed that she and her girlfriend, Meri were the first gay female couple to come out in Finland.

    Yesterday it was revealed an ambitious/rich punter has bet a whopping £30,500 that Saara Aalto will win this year’s X Factor competition. Should she actually pull it off the punter will be in for an amazing £62,650 windfall.