X Factor legend Wagner has compared TV boss Simon Cowell to “horrible” presenter Jeremy Kyle.
The singer, 66, chatted exclusively to the Daily Star and explained in detail why he thought the ITV singing show came to an end.
Wagner starred on the show in 2010 and came sixth in the competition and was coined the series’ novelty act.
During a Facebook Live tell-all, He opened up that he thought the show finished for a couple of reasons.
He said: “How come the most successful TV in the UK all of a sudden faded away? I think two things contributed.
(Image: Ken McKay/Rex Features)
“One, the fact that they didn’t have a million-pound recording contract to offer anymore because you can’t make money selling records anymore, everything changed.
“People don’t buy records anymore, so the X Factor didn’t have a huge prize to offer to the winner. At the same time, there’s as much money to be made.
“The other thing which I think contributed to the show losing its popularity was the fact that Simon had to become Mr Nice Guy.
(Image: TalkTV)
“Before he would say horrible things to people singing badly. But now, the world is becoming a very boring place, where you have to be politically correct at all times.”
Comparing it to another axed ITV programme, he continued: “I didn’t like The Jeremy Kyle Show, I think it was horrible I think it was such a bad vibe to see people arguing and he would wind them up and something bad happened and the show was stopped, and Simon Cowell had to change like that as well.
(Image: WireImage)
“People enjoyed watching him say horrible things, which is wrong,” he laughed.
“That was something that I think attracted people to watch the show.”
During Wagner’s stint on the X Factor, he often received a lot of backlash from the judges.
However, he didn’t take it to heart as he fully agreed with their comments.
The singer said: “I had to agree with them. When I was there I was 54 and old dogs don’t learn new tricks.
(Image: Getty Images)
“My English, 12 years ago was even worse than it is today so it was very hard for me to learn new songs like that.
“When you go to the live shows, it’s like they give you a song on a Monday then change their mind the next day and learn that within a few days.
“But you don’t really have much time to learn it because you are always filming and doing interviews so I struggled to learn the songs.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
