The Stage

Older X Factor contestants are a “gimmick”, says Pop Idol’s Fox

Published Wednesday 29 September 2004 at 13:05 by Joanna Taylor

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of older contestants taking part in ITV talent show The X Factor have been included as a gimmick and do not have a “hope in hell” of winning, according to Pop Idol judge Neil Fox.

Speaking to The Stage at ITV’s inaugural Celebrity Awards, Fox claimed even those entrants over 25 have already missed the chance of a showbusiness career.

He said: “The inclusion is just a novelty factor. It is interesting because it is like watching your parents making a fool of themselves on TV in the same way as going to a wedding and seeing your family drunk - but they have not got a hope in hell of winning.

“They will get through [to the final stages] because it makes good television but they won’t have a career after the show. It is just a great gimmick that makes great TV. If anyone that age were really that good, they would have made it by now.”

Fox added he did not think this was a cruel or manipulative move by the show’s creator Simon Cowell because the contestants had gone into the competition knowing what to expect.

But the claims will anger many performers, who believed they had been offered their last shot at stardom when Cowell widened the remit for entrants to anyone over the age of 16.

It was previously claimed Cowell made the unprecedented move to break the trend of competitions which searched for young, inexperienced pop stars because of a talent deficit in the 16-26 age group.

The X Factor is split into three categories - groups, solo singers aged 25 and under and solo singers over 25. Judges Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh will each take charge of one section.

Earlier this month Cowell tipped the eventual winner of the show as one of the older contestants. He is expected to take charge of the older singer category, with Walsh responsible for groups and Osbourne for the younger singers.

Patzi Gooch, a 64-year-old singer who auditioned for The X Factor but failed to get through the first stage, complained the show had given older performers false hope.

She said: “I think including us was a gimmick and it has given those that are 40-plus hope that really wasn’t there. It wasn’t genuine. I didn’t think that Cowell really gave us the opportunity to show what we could do because they are really looking for young teens.”

• Fox revealed that he is currently working on a new Saturday night game show which will have the biggest money prize in the history of British TV. The pilot has been made by his production company Powderblue Entertainment and he is now waiting for ITV1 to commission it.