X Factor UK has been off the air for three seasons. Now, ITV confirms that the network has cancelled the show for good.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the broadcaster has confirmed that there are “no current plans” for another season of the show in the UK following rumors that creator and judge Simon Cowell himself was axing the show.
“There are no current plans for the next series of The X Factor at this stage,” ITV said in a statement to ITV News.
X Factor produced stars
The show debuted on UK television in 2004 and gave rise to some of the biggest pop acts of the 2000s including One Direction, Little Mix and Leona Lewis. Although One Direction announced a hiatus in 2016 that is most likely permanent, members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan have gone on to successful solo careers.
The last season of the show aired in 2018. After several years of falling ratings, Simon ditched the X Factor format in 2019 to air two short seasons of X Factor Celebrity and X Factor The Band. After dismal ratings, Simon announced in 2020 that he planned to rest the program for that year.
Originally created as a replacement for Pop Idol, which ran from 2001 to 2003, the franchise became hugely successful in the UK and around the world.
Judges who sat on the X Factor UK panel over the years beside Simon include Sharon Osbourne, Dannii Minogue, Kelly Rowland, Gary Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger, Mel B., Rita Ora, Robbie Williams, Louis Tomlinson, Louis Walsh and more.
Although X Factor failed in the US, it also produced successful acts
Simon brought X Factor to the United States, where it landed on the FOX fall season. But it never caught on ratings-wise. The network cancelled it after three seasons. Yet, the show did manage to produce the hugely successful girl group Fifth Harmony from which Camila Cabello, Normani and Ally Brooke launched successful music careers.
Simon’s next TV project is Walk the Line, a musical quiz show for ITV and its streaming platform, ITV Hub. Stateside, Simon continues to produce and sit on the judges panel of the still well-rated talent competition, America’s Got Talent for NBC. In the winter, offshoot AGT Extreme will air on the network.
