★★★★★ 0/5

Former X Factor contestant says he was booted for ratings

"I was told to be quiet and told to go into hiding" says disqualified 2012 X Factor contestant Josh Brookes.

10
Leave a comment

2012-09-20_2024Former X Factor contestant Josh Brookes, who was disqualified from the show in September 2012, is claiming it was all done to drum up TV ratings.

“I was told to be quiet and told to go into hiding for six months by the producers at X Factor and people at FremantleMedia,” Brookes told News Corp.

“They said that I was lucky I wasn’t being sued and if I spoke about it, it could backfire on me. “I realise now all they were doing was instilling fear in me so I wouldn’t ruin their operation.”

Brookes was a contestant mentored by Mel B. who was booted after a social media session saw him behave in an inappropriate manner that breached his responsibilities to the program. Adil Memon, who had already been eliminated, was also banned from returning for the Grand Final after participating with Brookes in allegedly asking for online “banana pics.”

But Brookes now says there was no nudity or suggestion of naked images during the chat with his fans he says were aged from children to adults.

“It was for ratings,” he said. “They spent a lot of money on me so I think they saw an opportunity to create a scandal and turn the Australian X Factor more into a scandalous operation. It was just a big ratings frenzy and if I was the CEO of Seven, I would do the same thing.”

However a spokesperson from FremantleMedia maintains, “Anyone who had seen the evidence of inappropriate behaviour would agree that the right decision was made.”

But at 12 long months after the event the burning question is probably likely to be: who really cares?

10 Responses

  1. Why is this guy suddenly getting air. Sorry dude you were no good, you wouldnt have won and get over it. The x factor was rating just fine. They didnt need you to do something stupid to spike it.

    Also take responsibility for your actions.

  3. I don’t remember any meaningful spike in ratings as a result of his leaving? He was pretty ordinary anyway, and combined with Mel B’s lacklustre mentoring would never have been eliminated fairly quickly anyway.

  5. Shows this guys mentality, does he really think a Mr. Nobody has any bearings on the ratings of the show, it was the best thing that happened to him, too big for his boots, and now he is attention seeking, is anyone going to feel sorry for him, don’t think so, the incident was forgotten shortly afterwards. .

  6. i cant remember any of his performances, but i remember him because of this scandal. whether it was done for ratings or not, it was the best thing for his career and the show.

  8. The show was actively trying not to promote his disappearance from the show to avoid tarnishing the family friendly vision of the show. He was in it one week and mentioned in passing while they introduced the replacement contestant the following week.

    This guy is dreaming if he thinks the show milked his disappearance for ratings.

Leave a Reply