ITV chief: 'The X Factor might not return in 2021'

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 27 August 2020

ITV's director of television Kevin Lygo says that The X Factor is not guaranteed to return to the schedule in 2021.

ITV's director of television Kevin Lygo has revealed that The X Factor is not guaranteed to return to the channel next year.

The long-running reality series was "rested" from the ITV schedules this year following a decline in ratings and an experimental format change that saw two series - The X Factor: Celebrity and The X Factor: The Band - air in 2019.

Answering a question on the show's future posed by Media Mole at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Lygo admitted that the show's general future remains up in the air and is partly dependent on what creator Simon Cowell envisages its future to be.

"It's not definitely returning, it might return," he said. "The format will be tweaked. When we talk about format changes, it was our most successful entertainment show for a decade and you need to be wary of changes.

"I'm sure X Factor will be back at some stage and it's really when is the right moment. Simon controls it - when does he want it to come back and how does he want it to come back? And hopefully we can be part of that."

ITV has this year found success with a similar show in the same space, The Masked Singer, and is returning it for a second series early next year.

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