X Factor fan from 2004 to 2018 before it was axed from ITV (Image: ITV / Fremantle / Syco)
finalist has admitted that she would love the talent show to return in the future – but with some major changes.
The Strictly It Takes Two presenter – who hosted the National Lottery’s New Year’s Eve Big Bash at the OVO Wembley Arena – competed on the singing competition back in 2014.
The mum-of-one started out as a vocalist in the girl band Addictiv Ladies but in her second audition, TV bosses pushed for her to perform as a solo artist.
It was at this point that she really grabbed the judges’ attention and soared all the way to the live final before she was pipped to the post by Ben Haenow.
The long-running show ran from 2004 to 2018, with returning to the helm for The X Factor: Celebrity, but it failed to take off with viewers at home.
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Fleur East made it all the way to the finals in 2014 (Image: Manchester Evening News)
However, the show has attracted a wave of backlash since it was taken off the air, with many former contestants speaking out about the negatives of being plummeted into the fame game so suddenly,
Now, Fleur East has defended the axed Saturday night show and insists that it needs to make a comeback in the future. Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, the TV presenter explained that since it was scrapped, rival shows have failed to match the show’s unique format.
She explained: “I loved the show and I feel like there hasn’t really been anything like it since. Maybe it still needs a bit of time away but eventually there’ll be something similar if not a return of it again because I feel like there’s nothing really that’s managed to replace it. For me I’ve just missed the format altogether.”
The doting mum argued that Britain’s Got Talent winner Sydney Christmas may have been a bigger star if she had competed on X Factor.
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She believes no talent show has been able to match it’s unique format (Image: PA)
Fleur went on: “For example, we had Sydnie Christmas perform at the New Year’s Bash and she is an incredible singer and she came from Britain’s Got Talent.
“But I feel like if she went on a show like X Factor, we would have got to see her a lot more, learn about her, become familiar with her, get to see more of a process and a journey.
“Whereas I feel like with Britain’s Got Talent for singers like her, you see two or three performances and then it’s the final. So, it’s quite a condensed process in that sense.
“I just miss seeing people walk into the audition room and then spend three months getting to know who they are and then boom, you’ve got the next big thing.”
Fleur East hosted the National Lottery’s New Year’s Eve Big Bash (Image: National Lottery)
It comes after Fleur hosted the star-studded New Year’s Eve party alongside her co-host Vernon Kay. They welcomed performances from musicians including Craig David, Perrie Edwards, Ella Henderson, and Olly Alexander onto the big stage.
Speaking about the show, she reflected on all the amazing work that was done over the past 12 months. Fleur gushed: “It was just nice to look over all the amazing moments we’ve had through the year and celebrate some of the people that have been doing some amazing work for their communities as well.
“Because it’s not just a party for everyone for New Year’s Eve, it’s actually looking over at the organisations and the people that have done amazing with with the funding that the National Lottery gives out to charities and organisations.
“So it was cool to learn about that because you don’t think when you buy a lottery ticket about that side of it. There’s actually a lot of people that it helps.”
You can catch up on The National Lottery’s New Year’s Eve Big Bash on ITVX.