Strictly Nabs Former X-Factor Contestants For Series Launch
The battle lines between the two biggest reality shows in the country have been well and truly drawn ahead of their respective new series.
The battle between BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s The X Factor has been a contest that seems as old as time itself and, as the show’s head into their fourteenth and thirteenth seasons respectively, the rivalry between the two seems hotter than ever before.
For their launch show, which will air on September 3rd, Strictly announced yesterday that they have booked not one but TWO former X Factor contestants, in the form of Olly Murs and Rebecca Ferguson:
Twitter: CONFIRMED: Singing sensations @ollyofficial & @RebeccaFMusic will perform on the #Strictly launch show next month https://t.co/3iZkgAohQL (@bbcstrictlyPR)
The news comes after the show also confirmed that former Xtra Factor host Melvin Odoom will be one of this year’s contestants on the show alongside Ed Balls, Anastacia and Olympic Gymnast Claudia Fragapane.
However, the nation’s favourite singing contest has wasted no time in making headlines of its own. Returning to this year’s panel are perhaps the most popular assortment of judges in the show’s history as Simon Cowell teams up with Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh.
In a recent interview Walsh, who mentored Shayne Ward to victory in 2005 said: “The X Factor is the most talked-about show on TV – everyone talks about The X Factor, no-one talks about Strictly.”
Sadly for the boyband mastermind, the statistics don’t seem to follow that view, with Strictly comprehensively beating The X Factor in the ratings battle for the last four years.
To arrest the slide, it isn’t only the judging panel that has been shaken up ahead of the new series.
Dermot O’Leary returns as the show’s host and The Xtra Factor will be headed up by Matt Edmondson and former contestant Rylan Clark-Neal.