The first season of The X Factor USA isn’t even over for another couple of days, but already reports are flying around about what will change in time for the already-confirmed second outing next Autumn.
Unsurprisingly, word is that Steve Jones has been sacked as host. Brilliant and charismatic as he was on UK TV, he just hasn’t settled in on the US one, looking uncomfortable and lacking in charm.
“Steve keeps saying that living in LA is a dream come true,” a source told The Mirror. “He loves the weather and the women, and he loves working on X Factor – it’s just a shame that the US public has not warmed to him.
“He got terrible reviews from critics when he started and things haven’t got better. There have been mistakes and he just doesn’t seem to have the knack for dealing with contestants.
“The executives at Fox have already decided not to renew his contract and so, short of a miracle happening, it is pretty much a done deal that he will not take part next season.”
His replacement? Well, apparently it’s Nicole Scherzinger, who was originally signed up to co-host with Steve before Cheryl Cole got dumped. She, like Steve, has been subject to bad reviews in her role.
But she said at a press conference that her sole focus at the moment is getting her finalist Josh Krajcik through to the end. She said: “For me, what’s important is to live in the moment. I’ve got to get Josh through this and to come out swinging. So I’m just going to focus on doing a really good job with Josh here.
“I’ve had a lot of fun this season. The reason I took this job is I wanted to mentor, first and foremost… It has been very hard on me, the elimination process. It’s something I could never have been prepared for.”
Nicole off the panel sounds good to me…
