X Factor cancelled: Jedward celebrate ‘mission completed’ after stinging attack against Simon Cowell

Jedward lead stars celebrated X Factor’s crushing cancelation (Picture: ITV/Rex)

Simon Cowell’s X Factor has finally been axed after 17 years as one of the biggest shows of the 21st Century – and some of its leading stars couldn’t be happier.

Ratings for the reality show plummeted in recent years, after once peaking at 17million viewers in 2010 when Matt Cardle beat Rebecca Ferguson and One Direction to bag the lucrative record deal with Simon Cowell’s former record label Syco.

The final series, which aired in 2019, saw celebrities replace regular folk with just 2.6million people tuning in to catch Megan McKenna win absolutely nothing.

Just two weeks later, X Factor: The Band launched in a desperate bid to revive the format, attracting just 1.68 million viewers for its final.

However, complaints from X Factor contestants through the years have been plentiful.

The likes of Katie Waissel, Jedward, and Cher Lloyd have all slammed treatment they received during their time on the contest, and perhaps, unsurprisingly, have been celebrating the final nail being hammered into its coffin.

More than 17milloin people watched Matt Cardle win X Factor in 2010 (Credits: © ITV)

As one of the loudest voices against X Factor, recently admitting that they regret telling the judges to ‘f**k off’, Irish twins Jedward – who competed in the 2009 series – have somewhat taken credit for its crushing end, tweeting: ‘X Factor has been axed Mission Complete.’

Sharing a picture of news X Factor had been cancelled, Waissell added the hashtag Journeyforjustice.

Waisell called X Factor’s demise ‘justice’ (Picture: Ken McKay/Talkback Thames/REX)

ITV confirmed the end of X Factor in a statement which read: ‘There are no current plans for the next series of The X Factor at this stage.’

An insider told The Sun: ‘Globally, it is still a phenomenon and rakes in millions every year. But in the UK, there is no question it has become slightly stale.

‘Simon remains at the top of his game and knows how to make a hit. He owns the rights to the show, and it’s his call — not ITV’s — whether or not he drops it.

‘Clearly the last thing he wants is for X Factor to fizzle out with a whimper and become a bit of a joke — especially in contrast to the show in its pomp.

‘It is still on the back-burner and there’s the option to return it in 2023, with auditions next summer, but a lot will ride on his new format Walk The Line.’

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