The X Factor and BGT confirmed to continue 'into 2017 and beyond'

Don't shoot the messenger

Simon Cowell ain't going nowhere (Getty Images)

Great excitement over news that The X Factor could finally be getting the axe has been quashed by confirmation that it will continue “into 2017 and beyond”.

ITV dropped the bombshell of doom after rumours spread that Simon Cowell would be putting the TV singing contest to rest for at least a year.

Ratings have dropped in recent years, with an average of 8.2 million tuning into the latest series. Following the announcement that BBC rival The Voice would be moving to ITV next year, many assumed that The X Factor’s time was up. But no, our hopes that surely there couldn’t be two wannabe pop star shows on the same channel have officially been dashed and instead The Voice is simply joining the “family”.

The anticlimactic news does not stop there as Britain’s Got Talent is also sticking around seemingly forever, with an ITV spokesperson saying: “The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent contracts come up for renewal after the latest series air later this year and we fully intend to continue with both shows into 2017 and beyond.”

Louisa Johnson became the youngest ever winner of The X Factor in December but failed to reach the Christmas number one spot with her cover of Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young”. She only reached number nine, giving her the lowest chart debut for a winner since the show began in 2004.

Viewers are not the only ones thinking The X Factor has had its day. Former host Dermot O’Leary said last month that he thought Cowell should give people a break from the show before reverting to its original format.

“If I was Simon I’d take it off air for a year. I’d rest it and then I’d get back to the rooms,” he said. “For me it was always room, arena, boot camp.”

The X Factor is set to return later this year but it remains unknown whether any new judges will join or replace Nick Grimshaw, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Rita Ora on the panel.