Louis Walsh gets booted off the X Factor judges' panel
The long-serving judge is asked to vacate his seat so a contestant can fulfil their dream role
Three weeks in on this year's X Factor and Louis Walsh has already been booted off the panel.
No, he hasn't made one too many jokes about Sharon Osbourne's appearance or Simon Cowell's hair, he's asked to vacate his seat so that a contestant can have a bash at being judge.
That's what 42-year-old Philip Hadlow from Margate is there for it transpires. Sure he came in with claims of having a big voice and dreams of stardom. But, after painfully mumbling his way through Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, he reveals his true ambition:
"Ultimately I’d love to end up on that judging panel," he tells the judges.
Although it seems even this isn't the ultimate dream, as he clarifies: "It would open doors".
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Honest, at least.
As a bona fide dream maker, what's Cowell to do other than let him have a shot? So he scoots Walsh out of the way and let's Philip have a go at dishing out the critique.
"You're now the voice of the public," Cowell warns Phillip who takes his chance and runs with it.
"How old are you if you don’t mind me asking?" he asks baffled looking contestant Christina.
"53? 53 years young," he flirts as Sharon Osbourne cries: "Is this really happening".
Unfortunately for Christina however, she's neither the next big pop star or a young version of anyone while Philip's on the panel, telling her she's "not quite ready for the competition yet" and "a little bit unrehearsed".
From a man that just got four nos himself, it's bold.
It comes to something when you miss Walsh for even just one audition, eh?
The X Factor Saturday and Sunday at 8:00pm on ITV
