The X Factor New Zealand is in a ratings slump.
Television commentator and founder of throng.co.nz Regan Cunliffe says the ratings for X Factor are “not great” particularly when compared to the first season.
Numbers dropped significantly following the Shae Brider controversy and more following the sackings of Natalia Kills and Wily Moon, however, Cunliffe says that was part of a wider trend, which sees viewer numbers drop off after the audition rounds.
“I don’t think Shae Brider in itself had an impact on the ratings,” he says. “But the problem they have is all these things start to mount up.”
Cunliffe was in the live studio audience last night when Kills made her comments to Irvine but says, at first, the audience didn’t realise she was condemning him.
“The strange thing is you can’t see the judges’ faces … She starts talking and half the audience went ‘yeah’ and cheered. All of a sudden, it was like, ‘where the hell is she going with this?’. Very quickly, the audience turned. There was certainly a sense of shock.”
Cunliffe said he was disappointed by the outburst and the fact it has diverted attention from other contestants’ performances. “Once again, here we are all talking about the judges. 13 acts are trying to make a career for themselves. Who’s talking about them today?”
TV3’s handling of X Factor is being closely scrutinsed by FremantleMedia and Cowell’s company, Syco Entertainment, which own the format. A clause in the contract stipulates the show can’t be brought into disrepute.
The British-born pop star and husband Willy Moon were sensationally sacked from the X Factor New Zealand after they laid into contestant Joe Irvine in uncomfortable scenes in the first live episode.
Now her spokesman has revealed that she was just ‘speaking from the heart’ when she told Joe Irvine he made her feel sick.
X Factor New Zealand ratings down amid Natalia Kills bullying controversy
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