The X Factor has confirmed the sudden launch of a new band-focused series later this year.
Following the current run of The X Factor: Celebrity, a further spin-off is set to air in December – The X Factor: The Band. The original plan was for an all stars X Factor later this year, but that has now been pushed back.
“Simon Cowell and The X Factor have discovered some of the biggest pop groups in history, including One Direction, Fifth Harmony and Little Mix,” said a spokesperson for the show. “Now the aim is to find the new superstar group – though now in record-breaking time.”
The rapid turnaround for the new series appears to be a spoiler for a rival group search show on BBC One featuring Little Mix. However, Cowell claimed in an interview with The Sun that the BBC show had actually been brought forward to 2020, which clashed with the plans for The X Factor: The Band.
Little Mix The Search is the first show from ModestTV, a new production company launched by Modest! Management and Andrea Hamilton. Modest! famously fell out with Simon Cowell last year, following a long association with X Factor artists. The split occurred in the midst of a Little Mix album campaign.
Modest! duo Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee recently discussed that music business row in a cover story interview in Music Week. The pair are this year’s recipients of the MITs award (November 4).
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