Former X Factor head judge Gary Barlow has accused producers of manufacturing fake drama during his tenure on the show between 2011 and 2013.
In his new autobiography A Better Me, which was released earlier this month, Barlow claimed producers who were active on the show at the time would tell judges what to say about contestants.
“About half an hour before the show goes live, the producers would come in and they’d go, ‘Oh my God. That Misha. She’s a bully. Can’t believe it. She is such a bully. In fact, you know what? You should say it. You should say it on air. She’s bullied everyone all week’,” Barlow wrote.
He added that he developed “a bad case of showbiz paranoia”, as he claimed many of his behind-the-scenes conversations were later circulated by the press.
“Was the dressing room bugged?” he wrote. “They always seemed to know what was being talked about behind closed doors, and eaten, too. Whatever happened in that building always found its way to the press.”
“I’ve got a very healthy address book of TV professionals and I set about ringing every single one of them. The X Factor. What’s it all about?” he wrote of the show. “To the last, they all said the same thing: ‘The only thing anyone cares about in that building is The X Factor. They won’t mind throwing you under the bus, using you to get a headline, feeding you a line that will end your career, as long as The X Factor gets a mention’.”
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