There’s definitely room for improvement for Fox’s The X Factor, and while Steve Jones may have simply needed a bit more time to find his groove on the singing competition, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Word is, Jones is out.
This news is as close to official without being actually official, in that it doesn’t come directly from Fox, but from Jones himself via Twitter. According to Deadline, the Welsh TV host tweeted that he won’t be coming back for Season 2 of the U.S. version of The X Factor, stating:
I wont be hosting next seasons XFactor which is a shame but I can’t complain as I’ve had a great time. Good luck to everyone on the show.”
As Deadline points out, Jones got the hosting job after “showing chemistry with [Nicole] Scherzinger,” who was eventually moved to the judges table, leaving Jones to host on his own.
As a viewer of the series, I’m not sure I’d fault the altered format for Jones’ shortcomings as a host. There was certainly some awkwardness in Jones’ hosting style, but the constant bickering and occasional indecisiveness from the judges table certainly didn’t make the man’s job easy. On that subject, adjustments to the judges table may also be in the cards for the series, as Deadline mentions the “thin ice” that Scherzinger is on. Could they be looking to replace her?
Now for some random speculation... Shifting Scherzinger to host, should that be the direction they take, could work on a number of levels. For one thing it would fill the spot vacated by Jones. For another, if they left the fourth judges seat empty, they’d free up some time for the remaining three mentors to have their say. The crunch for time was often what had Jones stepping in to awkwardly cut the judges off. The issue with cutting the judges down from four to three would be the effect it would have on the format of the series, as the judges are actually mentors, who each work with a different set of contestants. Cutting the show down to three mentors would mean cutting out one of the four categories. Then again, given how fast the groups were eliminated last season, eliminating that category might be a reasonable diretion to go unless they can find a replacement mentor with experience in working with groups.
We’ll have to wait and see how things go for Scherzinger and who steps in to host for Season 2.
