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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Jasmine Allday

Simon Cowell reveals he now watches rival Strictly and teases if X Factor will return

Simon Cowell is happily watching rival show Strictly Come Dancing - now that The X Factor is over.

The music and TV mogul appeared on The One Show tonight with former X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan as they chatted about music and her new single, which he has published.

They were also joined on the green sofa by current Strictly contestant Molly Rainford, who appeared on Britain's Got Talent when she was just 11-years-old.

Now she is on primetime TV once more as she takes part in this year's Strictly alongside her professional dancer partner Carlos Gu. As Molly chatted about her Strictly experience, hosts Ronan Keating and Alex Jones asked Simon if he had been tuning in.

Simon said he watches the rival show now (BBC)

"I watch it now. I never used to watch it obviously! You know it was like at the time - don’t even mention the word!" he said of the rival show, but he refused to answer when asked if he'd ever go on the show himself.

The X Factor famously faced off Strictly Come Dancing in the ratings war on a Saturday and Sunday evening and whilst the ITV talent show finished a few years' back, Strictly is still going strong and celebrating 20 years on screen.

During his appearance, Simon also revealed a little more about an upcoming X Factor reboot and if it could return.

"There are 100,000 songs updated every day. It's harder today to get your music noticed than it was 10, 15 years ago so the show did what it tended to do, help you get a record deal and for many, it sparked a big career," he added.

Simon met Molly when she was on Britain's Got Talent (BBC)

Lucy also teased she wanted to make the show "better" for the "longevity" of the contestants, as Alex Jones rumbled that something was going on for a possible show return one day.

His comments come after Simon admitted The X Factor turned into Frankenstein's monster, as he admitted he 'maybe' should have pulled the plug sooner, as he said he had tried desperately to shake-up the format to keep it fresh and new.

"You add new elements, then change something else, then something else, then the next thing you know, you’ve got this Frankenstein’s monster. Should we have ended the show sooner? Maybe. We could have done, yeah," he told The Sun.

He admitted the pressure of producing the Saturday night prime time show became an 'ego drive' as he wanted to make it 'better than everything else' which took his enjoyment out of it - with bosses spending crazy amounts on securing big stars to perform.

Molly and Carlos are competing on Strictly this series (BBC/Guy Levy)

The X Factor, meanwhile, is back in a different format - and with a TikTok twist.

"Having that first hit song is the most important part of an artist’s career, and also the most difficult part of breaking anyone’s career," he shared of the new and exciting format as he teams up with a top songwriter.

"So this really is at the heart of the idea of StemDrop - just imagine somebody who is on TikTok, trying to get some traction, who now has the ability to make their own version of a song written by the most successful songwriter of our time. It’s very compelling."

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