Overview
- Multiple UK outlets reported on Wednesday that ITV has put months-long talks about a full X Factor reboot on hold and that a return is unlikely in the near term.
- Insiders told reporters that Simon Cowell remains eager to bring the show back and that he and Fremantle control the format rights.
- Sources cited a drop in large broadcast audiences and high production costs as core commercial reasons for pausing the project.
- Former contestants have publicly described lasting trauma and welfare shortfalls from past series, and insiders said any revival would require a thorough overhaul of duty-of-care processes; Cowell has disputed some criticism on a podcast.
- The X Factor ran from 2004 to 2018 and launched acts such as Little Mix and Leona Lewis, and the pause leaves ITV looking for other big weekend formats while Cowell collaborates on a Sky documentary about the show.