Former X Factor runner-up and present X Factor host Olly Murs has suffered an embarrassing and controversial gaffe during this Sunday nights result show, when he revealed who was going home far too early!
With Max Stone eliminated automatically, Monica Michaels and Anthon Stephans where left in the bottom 2, singing for survival. When it came to to the judges voting, Olly told Simon that should he opt to vote to send Anton Stephans home then would leave the competition at once, and then went on to say that if Simon sent Monica home, then Monica would leave the competition, despite the fact that a vote for Monica would have left the contestants in a 2-2 split and therefore, deadlock.
Whilst that might have initially looked like a simple mistake in explaining the situation, it now appears to be a smaller part in a much bigger mistake when Simon subsequently opted to send Monica home and, instead of announcing the results would be taken to Deadlock and decided by the earlier public vote, Olly awkwardly and abrasively announced that they would not be going to deadlock and Olly would in fact be going home, in an attempt to rectify his previous mistake.
The gaffe was met with widespread confusion from the X Factor team, with Simon and Cheryl showing their surprise with loud and verbal “WHAT”s from behind the panel. The audience and the contestants likewise seemed shocked, and though Olly’s co-host Caroline Flack was quick to rectify the embarrassing mistake (in a rather annoyed tone, at that!), it was too late to gloss over the fact that Monica, and indeed everyone watching, knew that her time had come.
During the wait for the official announcement, Olly seemed to be exchanging awkward and apologetic glances with both the contestants, his co-host, the panel and some unseen faces off-stage, and when Monica was finally sent home for real, it came as no surprise to anyone.
Understandably Twitter went wild in the aftermath, with Olly becoming a trending topic within minutes, and resulting in much criticism toward the host, who has had a less than positive reception during his first year as X Factor host. Even Co-Host Caroline, who only the night before expressed her love for co-presenting with Olly on Instagram, seemed angry by the gaffe.
If his stuttering over words, occasional mis-pronunciations and general on-camera persona has been enough to attract negative attention and criticism from X Factor fans, journalists and social media, then this MAJOR gaffe on his part of sure to have the critics and the cynics fired up for weeks!
Olly apologised on Twitter, stating the fact he’s still learning the ropes, and was met with supportive messages from fans and Co-host Caroline, ensuring him that everybody makes mistakes, and this kind of thing was bound to happen on live Television.
Still, though, it’s a pretty big mistake to make, and lots of people are already suggesting that Olly should be lose his job over this!
What did you think about Olly’s mistake? Does he deserve to lose his job for it? Comment below, or Tweet us @CelebMix.