there hasn't been an X-Factor series that started without a scandal or some big front page "behind the scenes fight"
in the past judges have been booted off the show, or fights have taken place - or simon has threatened to quit the show because he is so angry at the producers about something or other. - despite the fact that he micro manages every bit of the shows himself.
and every time the season kicks off with another calamity, it gets yards and yards of column inches and airtime minutes. the bullshit dramas and controversies that surround the show are as real as the ones surrounding wrestling.
cowells
PR manager is none other than Max Clifford, a nasty piece of work who can get any story he wants across all media. news outlets are scared not to print what he tells them and too scared to print anything he tells them not to.
a Louis Theroux documentary "when Louis met Max" gives a pretty good insight to what a manipulative but powerful guy he is. - otherwise he is probably best known for getting the headline "Freddie Starr ate my hamster" on the front page of britains biggest daily newspaper. it was the story of how Starr - a comedian (and client of Hastings) had supposedly eaten a hamster belonging to a (heartbroken) child.
nothing in tv is real anymore