The X Factor news came fast and furious on Monday night — first, that host Steve Jones would not be returning, then that judge Nicole Scherzinger was exiting (both confirmed by Fox) and finally, according to sources, that Paula Abdul also would be shown the door. Now The Hollywood Reporter has learned that all of these major show decisions are coming from one key confab held in the U.K.
According to a show insider, a series of X Factor season 2 offsite meetings are taking place wherein show creator Simon Cowell
has assembled his team and creative brain-trust for a post-mortem. The
purpose: detailing what went wrong and what was done right on season 1
of the Fox singing competition.Â
Among the brash verdicts, says THR‘s source: that Abdul’s
role was seen as “irrelevant to the mix,” in part through no fault of
her own (as mentor to the groups, her contestants were picked off early
in the competition).
