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X Factor viewers were VERY confused by James Arthur's literally impossible “live” performance

X Factor viewers were VERY confused by James Arthur's literally impossible “live” performance

Either James has a Tardis, or there’s something he’s not telling us…

Huw Fullerton

Published: Sunday, 26 November 2017 at 11:27 am

The X Factor began its semi-final process last night, and amid all the trials, tribulations and high-energy performances there was also a guest appearance from a former winner – 2012 champion James Arthur, who was there to sing his brand-new single Naked.

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But soon his appearance had many people asking one question – was he really there at all? Because while the X Factor live shows are, ahem, recorded live (phone votes would be a bit of a waste otherwise, eh?) some eagled-eyed viewers noticed that Arthur was also playing a gig that night somewhere else – the Genting Arena in Birmingham, where he was performing the latest leg of his nationwide tour at around the same time the X Factor was on TV.

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Given that the 105-mile journey between The X Factor studios and the Arena would take a good hour and 45 minutes by car, it was clear that Arthur couldn’t have pulled off the double appearance if everything was as it seemed, so viewers quickly began calling foul play.

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Confusing stuff – but when spelled out, the truth is actually fairly simple. While the majority of the X Factor studio shows are live, Arthur’s performance was actually recorded a little earlier to fit in with his schedule, then slotted in seamlessly with the main X Factor broadcast.

Still, we can understand all the hoo-ha; the whole thing did leave us scratching our collective RadioTimes.com heads for a while too. But for James Arthur, NOTHING is impossible.

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The X Factor continues on ITV tonight (Sunday 26th November) at 7.30pm

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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