Everyone has something to say on the news that Dannii Minogue WON’T be returning to The X Factor this year. Now Max Clifford (Simon Cowell's own PR guru) has come out play down reports that Dannii has been pushed out, and he insists that Simon Cowell actually wanted to keep her on the show.
Speaking on ITV1's This Morning earlier today, Max said. “He [Simon Cowell] definitely wanted to keep her in because she was very popular and has worked very well. But in the last few months, because of the American X Factor, this X Factor has had an awful lot of juggling going on and it’s a question of getting the best possible combination."
Host Phillip Schofield suggested that Dannii’s fans would not be happy that she’s gone and Max agreed, but he also seemed confident that viewers would not abandon the show. “I don’t think they [Dannii’s fans] will be [happy] and I do think that Simon took that on board but I think it was a question of trying to get the combination where he could get all of the people at the same time. Don’t forget it’s the most popular show on television and the fact that when you’re changing judges it makes front page and national newspapers, gives you some idea of how popular it is. A lot of critics are saying that the show won’t be as popular and it won’t work but they also said that when Sharon Osbourne went and Cheryl came in. They said that was a ridiculous choice.”