Major Fox Show Could Return Nearly a Decade After Cancellation

The American version of The X Factor is one of the few blemishes on Simon Cowell's career as the mastermind behind singing competition shows. While the U.K. version ran 15 seasons, the U.S. version only lasted three years on Fox. Nine years after the series was canceled, Cowell now says it is possible that a revival could happen.

In a new interview with The Sun, Cowell said it was "more likely than not" that a U.S. version of The X Factor could come to a network. He also suggested the U.K. version could make a comeback in 2024, six years after it ended. Cowell did not say which networks would be interested in carrying The X Factor.

It's hard to see which network would be interested in reviving The X Factor. Fox already has The Masked Singer, while NBC is home to The Voice and Cowell's America's Got Talent. ABC is the home of the revived American Idol. CBS is the only one of the four major U.S. broadcasters without a hit singing competition, but the network has hit reality shows with Survivor, The Amazing Race, and Big Brother.

The original U.S. X Factor flopped because Fox was still airing American Idol and it was difficult to see what the difference was between the two. Original Idol judge Paula Abdul even followed Cowell to the show. Britney Spears and Demi Lovato were brought in as judges, but these splashy moves failed to help. The only major act to emerge from the show was the girl group Fifth Harmony, who came in third in Season 2.

Although Cowell is interested in bringing back The X Factor, he told The Sun that he wants to focus more on StemDrop, a collaboration with TikTok to help creative people gain an audience. "Am I tempted to focus on StemDrop and not bring back X Factor? Personally, yes. The temptation would be to do something new," he said. "But the funny thing is that when young people approach me on the street, all they want to know is when X Factor is coming back. They all watch it on YouTube. When we stopped the show, I genuinely thought there was no need for it – that everyone would be signed from YouTube. But there are so many people wanting to be signed that we could use that extra platform."

Cowell hopes that a revived X Factor could catch lightning in a bottle, just like the show's early years. "There would have to be a genuine opportunity to make it how it was in the early years, and I would only do it with someone who was genuinely enthusiastic about it," he said. "I would also bring back the managers and the A&R people instead of having artists judge the talent because I don't think that's great. If you have a great party, do you hold it again in ten years or do you do something else?"

Cowell also is in no rush to appear in any new television series aside from a revived X Factor. "The idea of The X Factor not being on so I go on a game show... I think I'd jump off a cliff," he said. "I genuinely can't think of anything worse."