The X Factor final is looking to be the lowest rated to date, according to bookmakers.
The X Factor is odds-on at 8/11 with Betway to pull in its lowest ever final viewership this weekend.
The long-running singing competition has seen its ratings drop in recent years and 8/11 says this 2018 edition could also be responsible for the lowest ever series viewership, which currently stands at 6.52million.
THEGAYUK.com recently revealed that only one only gay contestant had won the X Factor, but the show had spawned at least four homophobic winners.
Worryingly the X Factor has produced more winners who have been revealed to have been homophobic or tweeted anti-gay comments than actual LGBT winners.
In 2014 James Arthur was eventually dumped by his record label after it emerged that he released a diss track in which he used the term “f**king queer”. In 2018 it was revealed, days before she was to headline Birmingham Pride that Louisa Johnson had repeatedly used the slur “faggot” on Twitter. Birmingham Pride did not cancel her appearance, despite calls from pride goers. The first ever winner of the show, Steve Brookstein once said that he wished the openly gay gossip columnist Dan Wootton had HIV.
So who will win?
The leading online bookmaker is not ruling out the possibility of this being the last ever series, going 10/1 for 2018 to be curtains for the long-running show, with Dalton Harris the 1/4 favourite to triumph on Saturday.
Betway’s Alan Alger said, “Having been on our screens for 15 years, X Factor’s popularity has dwindled and we are 8/11 for this weekend to see the show’s lowest ever final viewership.
“Dalton Harris is 1/4 to win the series but then it could be curtains for the show altogether, as we go 10/1 for this edition to be the last ever one, though it’s never over until the fat lady sings.”
