Inside The X Factor reboot as Simon Cowell plots TikTok votes & social media star judges in battle for Gen Z audience

FOR eight years there has been a giant hole in the TV schedule where The X Factor once was – but now Simon Cowell is rebooting it for Gen Z. When the huge talent show is revived by ITV, likely next year, viewer interaction through TikTok and YouTube will be centre stage. Simon Cowell is rebooting The X Factor for Gen Z Credit: Getty Pink Pantheress is likely to join the new social media-friendly judging panel Credit: Getty A social media-friendly judging panel will front up the all-singing, all-clicking action and names in the frame are likely to include acts such as Pink Pantheress, Yungblud, Raye and Cheryl Tweedy. It will take to the next level an approach that has already brought in big audiences, and bucks, for Cowell’s other ITV baby, Britain’s Got Talent — where the panel features social media sensation KSI. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! Simon is now hoping this 50/50 mix of traditional telly and social media can woo teenagers and twentysomethings who never knew the Saturday night format that once held court in households up and down the land but was put on ice in 2018. It could add spice to the show’s long-running rivalry with the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, which has also been trying to get in step with younger viewers. An insider said: “The re­invention of The X Factor is set to deliver the first TV show of its kind — one that isn’t just a programme with bolt-on social media elements but has social media deeply integrated into the format. “It’s a way to bring in the young audience who, back in the day, were the mainstay of the talent show. “People who watched The X Factor from the start are now in their forties and fifties and more likely to access it by traditional means — either tuning in on a Saturday or watching later on catch-up service ITVX. “But now the young consume things so differently. Most read in TV Singer Raye is in the running with nine million viewers between Instagram and TikTok Credit: Getty Yungblud is also in the frame with 16.9million followers Credit: Getty “They watch everything in bite-sized chunks which the link- up with TikTok and YouTube as well as other forms of social media will provide them with. “Just as important, however, is the level of interaction that social media will provide for viewers.” Although neither ITV nor production firm Talkback Thames have yet confirmed The X Factor’s return, it is understood they are looking at some radical proposals. These could include a shake-up of the old audition process so contestants upload pre-recorded performances online where the public then give them a YES or NO. Social media users may also get the power to make wildcard choices and bring back acts they wish had not left the process — even if they might be just joke acts they feel sorry for. They could even decide, from the comfort of their sofa, what songs performers sing and what themes each show would have. The whole point is to incorporate the viewer into the experience, not just have them watch from afar and only be able to vote an act through at the end of a live show. The new proposals would involve them from the start to the end of the process and each contestant’s journey could be charted onTikTok and Instagram. It may all sound like a huge leap from the old show, but Simon has long hinted that there were big changes in the pipeline and a new and improved X Factor might not be far away. During an interview in 2024, he said: “I am going to do something brand new. It’s going to be hard work but I’m excited. I haven’t signed the contract yet . . . so I can say no more.” The beauty of The X Factor is that although Simon’s new target audience will not have seen the old show live, they have a brand awareness of the format that launched One Direction and Little Mix — and that much is invaluable to producers. Simon is amazed youngsters have such interest in the show even though it has not been on air for years. Former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl has 8.1million followers on Instagram and X Credit: Splash BGT has benefitted from the presence on its panel of KSI — the Brit influencer, musician and former pro boxer Credit: Getty He said: “When young people approach me on the street, all they want to know is when The X Factor will be coming back. They all watch it on YouTube. “When we stopped the show, I thought there was no need for it — that everyone would be signed from YouTube. But there are so many people wanting to be signed that we could use that extra platform.” Tellingly, in the same interview, he also said: “I would only do it again if we could go back to where the show started, if we could find some great people and create those TV moments that live for ever.” Classic X Factor moments, after the show’s launch in 2004, still get huge viewer numbers online. The X Factor’s official YouTube channel has 9.2million subscribers, and the top ten most-watched auditions have clocked up a total of 1.1BILLION views. That viewer familiarity could be crucial because introducing British TV audiences to new concepts is ever harder in the competitive media market. Having a format people know is a bonus. Talking last week at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Kevin Lygo, ITV’s Managing Director, Media and Entertainment, said: “It’s harder and harder now to bring people to new shows. “That’s why you’re seeing more and more reboots everywhere.” The show’s original judges Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Credit: Handout From left: Dermot O’Leary, Sharon, Simon, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Credit: Handout Tellingly, he added: “Honestly, if one in eight becomes the next Britain’s Got Talent, that’s a win.” Britain’s Got Talent has reset the bar for ITV entertainment shows, which has inspired the rethink at The X Factor. BGT clips can be found on the BGT YouTube channel and have been watched 27.5BILLION times. Series 19 alone, aired earlier this year, featured clips seen 1.8billion times. Each view earns a little money — and it adds up to millions. The most watched of all the BGT YouTube videos are, tellingly for The X Factor, auditions of singers who have appeared on the show. The most-watched clip is Calum Scott’s cover of Dancing On My Own, which got 407million views. Six of the top ten videos, with a total viewing figure of one billion, are singers. It proves that a music act still cuts it, compared with other, more new-fangled and often outlandish forms of entertainment. BGT has also benefitted from the presence on its panel of KSI — the British influencer, musician and former pro boxer. Between Instagram and TikTok, he commands 25million followers and on YouTube his channel has 19million subscribers. Throw in his 8.1million X faithful and the grand total tops 52million. It means he can hugely increase the numbers watching BGT clips — particularly if they feature him either passing judgment on the panel or joining in with one of the acts. That is why Cowell and Co are now looking at drawing on similar British cyber royalty for their potential new showpiece. One likely recruit could be singer Pink Pantheress, who has had six billion streams on Spotify and, between Instagram and TikTok, has 10.8million followers. Singers Raye with nine million viewers between Instagram and TikTok, and Yungblud, followed by 16.9million, may also be in the conversation. If all three stars joined the panel — maybe alongside former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl, with 8.1million followers on Instagram and X, and Cowell himself with 3.5million fans on Instagram and TikTok — that is a grand and almighty total of 48.3million followers. Crucially, it would overtake the 47million total following of all 15 contestants on the upcoming Strictly Come Dancing, as well as the pros, put together. The past rivalry between the two shows was very real, and this could intensify further if The X Factor steps back in the ring. It would be a mighty showdown and ITV would come out all guns blazing because, for the first time in years, they could finally have a weapon that might see them wrestle from the Beeb dominance of the Saturday night schedule. Surely, only The X Factor could attract enough GenZers online to stage that coup. BGT street dance duo Twist and Pulse Credit: ITV CHAMP SERIES AT BGT By FELICITY CROSS, Deputy TV Editor BRITAIN’S Got Talent will stage an all-stars version next year after the main series – to celebrate the ITV show’s 20th birthday. Bonus spin-off The Champions will run in autumn 2027, with five pre-recorded shows and a live final. Ant and Dec will return next year as BGT hosts, with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and KSI back as judges. The all-star series will unite outstanding winners, finalists and fan favourites from the UK and across the programme’s global spin-offs, all competing to become the ultimate champion. Acts likely to battle it out include street-dance duo Twist And Pulse, real names Ashley Glazebrook and Glen Murphy, who were runners-up in 2010 and won a previous series of BGT The Champions in 2019. Filming for the regular show’s 20th series will begin next month in Blackpool. Meanwhile, Ant and Dec will also launch their own new ITV show called Holey Moley, based on extreme crazy golf. The four-parter is expected to air in early 2027. Comment now