Was Simon Cowell’s X-Factor ‘Arrogant A*****e’ Furore A Set-up? [Update]
Simon Cowell’s reality TV show X-Factor is now in season 12 in the UK, but Cowell and ITV bosses have been worried for some time that the show is losing its appeal. Cowell returned to the show for this season and also shook up the presenters and the judging panel, but despite Simon’s efforts audience figures continue to fall. Cowell is believed to have recruited One Direction star Louis Tomlinson as a mentor for the “judges houses” stage of the show in a bid to boost flagging audience numbers.
Over this past weekend the show got its first real boost in the shape of a fight between Cowell and a contestant. According to the Daily Mail a row blew up between Simon and a rapper named Mason Noise. After a heated exchange with Cowell during Sunday’s show Simon supposedly kicked Noise off the show and branded him “an arrogant a**hole.”
Noise’s spat with Cowell came after the rapper tried to dictate how much screen time he should have had on the show. It is probably fair to say that, if you want to be successful on Simon Cowell’s show, it is probably best not to get on the wrong side of him.
ITV News reports that Noise turned in an impressive performance, but then he blew his chances by having an ego-fuelled rant aimed at Simon. For reasons known only to himself, Noise decided to use his moment in the spotlight to criticize Cowell over what he believed was a shortened audition slot in the earlier stage of the show. What is more, Noise even asked the audience to film the row with Cowell on their mobile phones because he didn’t believe that Simon would allow X-Factor to broadcast it.
“I’ve got something to say. You know what? I invite you all to film this, or put up your phones. They ain’t going to throw four or five thousand people out.”
“The first audition I watched on Saturday, people had 10-minute slots, and I went to 47 seconds.”
According to the Mirror, Simon looked less than happy as he attempted to put Noise in his place and grew even more exasperated when the rapper tried to ignore him and continue to talk to the audience. The exchange continued and ended with Cowell calling Noise an “arrogant a**hole and inviting him to leave the show.
“No you’re talking to me not [the audience]. If you’ve got a problem don’t take it out on this audience because you are about five seconds away from getting thrown off of this stage.”
“You are being a complete a******e. Don’t tell me how long you should have on this show. If you’ve got a problem, then just go.”
It seems that the fight with Simon cost Noise his place on the show, as judge Nick Grimshaw admitted he would have given him a place during the six-chair challenge before the row. As you can see in the video the exchange ends with Noise throwing his microphone on the floor and storming off the stage.
Today, the Daily Mirror questions whether or not the row between Noise and Cowell was staged in a desperate bid to put some spice into the show. It would not be the first time that Cowell and X-Factor had been accused of being less than straight with television audiences. It was reported in Inquisitr some weeks back that a boy-band called First Kings had been given favorable treatment during the auditions. It is hardly a surprise to see that they have made it through boot-camp to the judges houses stage of the show.
X-Factor fans will be watching closely to see if Simon Cowell invited Noise back to the show at a later stage.
In a pretty sensational turn of events the Mirror is reporting that Tom Bleasby one of Nick Grimshaw’s final six has walked out of Simon Cowell’s X-Factor days before the contestants head to judges houses. As suggested above what are the chances that Cowell will invite Noise to return to the show? If he does Cowell will surely have questions to answer.
[Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images]
