After just one series, singer Olly Murs and TV Presenter Caroline Flack have announced that neither will return to host The X Factor next series.
Olly and Caroline were invited to take over the hosting duties on the main show after X Factor veteran Dermot O’Leary left the position. After the pair had such a positive reception hosting the spin off show The Xtra Factor just a few years prior, they were seen as an exciting and obvious replacement, but they had a turbulent tenure as hosts of the main show.
The pair were dogged with criticism from the off, with Caroline flying out routinely to Spain to host live episodes of ITV2 show Love Island meaning she was absent from filming some of the auditions, technical glitches on the live show that were not the fault of Olly and Caroline, but left them blundering on stage, and one particularly embarrassing mistake when Olly prematurely and abruptly told one contestant they were to leave the competition live on air, before the results had been announced.
In a statement thanking the show, Olly described hosting The X Factor as “An adventure and I’ve loved every minute of it”, and said that he made the “hard decision” in order to concentrate on his music career.
Caroline Flack had this to say.
“I have had a brilliant time working on The X Factor over the last few years, and hosting the main show was just fantastic, I made some amazing friends.I’m looking forward to carrying on working with the team over at ITV.”
It doesn’t look Caroline will be be parting ways with ITV just yet, with ITV2’s Love Island recently announced to return to our screens this summer, with Caroline returning to host.
The news comes after rumours that both the two hosts and one of last years judges Nick Grimshaw were told they would be given a chance to quit before they got fired.
With three positions now vacant on the X Factor panel (And a 4th possible coming soon, since Grimmy signing up to judge was one of the reasons why Rita Ora agreed to join, and the singer has expressed interest in returning to The Voice when it makes its way to ITV next year), Louis Tomlinson looks favourite to join the show as a judge, with a return from Louis Walsh another expected outcome. Who knows…if Rita doesn’t stay put, maybe we’ll see both of the Louis’s behind the X Factor panel next year!
Who ever joins that panel might not be on it for long, though; X Factor seems unable to keep it’s judges tied down these days, with a different line up every year since since 2010, and with the upcoming series being the last contracted series on ITV, many are suggesting the show will, much like its biggest stars One Direction, take a temporary hiatus.
The full lineup is expected to be announced in spring, and the show will return to our screens in Summer.
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