Offstage: Inside The X Factor

By BBC Radio 4Society & Culture

Offstage: Inside The X Factor episodes

January 26, 2024 6. Aftermath
As they were voted off the show, the contestants head home to pick up their lives where they left off. Chi Chi finds out who thinks the programme helped them, and who regrets going on the show.
Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on the world of The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream of becoming household names. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of hard truths, hard words and hard work.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor captures the emotion, the excitement and the drama of the show and features some of the captivating characters that led to its enduring success. But it also looks beyond the glitz and glamour revealing how contestants and staff felt, the toll it took on some of them and what they say happened behind the scenes. 
Presenter: Chi Chi Izundu
Producers: Rob Brown, Jo Adnitt, Lucy Burns, Joe Kent
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Archive:
The X Factor series 2, 7 (Fremantle/Syco/ITV)
Good Morning Britain (2016, ITV)
Youtube/BRITs (2023)
Youtube/Andy Knowles (2014)
TikTok/TheBradleyHunt (2023)
34 min
January 26, 2024 5. It’s Always the Money
The X Factor finalists have to make financial and legal decisions, but are they out of their depth? Chi Chi considers how The X Factor makes money even though it is no longer on TV. And how well did the contestants understand the business side of show business?
Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on the world of The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream of becoming household names. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of hard truths, hard words and hard work.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor captures the emotion, the excitement and the drama of the show and features some of the captivating characters that led to its enduring success. But it also looks beyond the glitz and glamour revealing how contestants and staff felt, the toll it took on some of them and what they say happened behind the scenes. 
Presenter: Chi Chi Izundu
Producers: Rob Brown, Jo Adnitt, Lucy Burns, Joe Kent
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Archive:
The X Factor series 4, 10 (Fremantle/Syco/ITV)
Youtube/WhatsOnTV (2008)
So Graham Norton (2002, So Productions/Channel 4)
28 min
January 26, 2024 4. Fame
The X factor finalists become famous overnight; even popping out to the shops becomes an ordeal. They’re a target for a hungry press and publicity machine; how does that affect them and the staff tasked with looking after them? And how did stories make it to the journalists?
Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on the world of The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream of becoming household names. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of hard truths, hard words and hard work.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor captures the emotion, the excitement and the drama of the show and features some of the captivating characters that led to its enduring success. But it also looks beyond the glitz and glamour revealing how contestants and staff felt, the toll it took on some of them, and what they say happened behind the scenes. 
Presenter: Chi Chi Izundu
Producers: Rob Brown, Jo Adnitt, Lucy Burns, Joe Kent
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Archive:
Youtube/jedwardtv (2011)
Youtube/thehollywoodfix (2020)
America’s Got Talent (2009, Fremantle USA/Syco/NBC)
Youtube/OnDemandEntertainment (2009)
29 min
January 26, 2024 3. The Biggest Opportunity
The contestants who make it through to the live shows live together in a shared house. Chi Chi hears tales of long days, press stories, painful teeth whitening, and a sense of nervous anticipation.
Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on the world of The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream of becoming household names. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of hard truths, hard words and hard work.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor captures the emotion, the excitement and the drama of the show and features some of the captivating characters that led to its enduring success. But it also looks beyond the glitz and glamour revealing how contestants and staff felt, the toll it took on some of them and what they say happened behind the scenes. 
Presenter: Chi Chi Izundu
Producers: Rob Brown, Jo Adnitt, Lucy Burns, Joe Kent
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Archive:
The X Factor series 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 16 (Fremantle/Syco/ITV)
Youtube/wearebelleamie (2010)
29 min
January 26, 2024 2. It Changed My Life
The X Factor was brilliant at building characters for the audience to love, and hate. Contestants played their roles in each stage, from "bootcamp" to the glitz of the judges' houses.
Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on the world of The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream of becoming household names. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of hard truths, hard words and hard work.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor captures the emotion, the excitement and the drama of the show and features some of the captivating characters that led to its enduring success. But it also looks beyond the glitz and glamour revealing how contestants and staff felt, the toll it took on some of them and what they say happened behind the scenes. 
Presenter: Chi Chi Izundu
Producers: Rob Brown, Jo Adnitt, Lucy Burns, Joe Kent
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Archive:
The X Factor series 2, 7, 9, 10, 13 (Fremantle/Syco/ITV)
29 min
January 26, 2024 1. For Our Entertainment
Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on the world of The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of hard truths, hard words and hard work. For our hopefuls, the first step is the audition process. We go behind the scenes to look at how the process unfolds, and what staff and contestants remember about the beginning of their road to stardom.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor captures the emotion, the excitement and the drama of the show and features some of the captivating characters that led to its enduring success. But it also looks beyond the glitz and glamour revealing how contestants and staff felt, the toll it took on some of them and what they say happened behind the scenes. 
Presenter: Chi Chi Izundu
Producers: Rob Brown, Jo Adnitt, Lucy Burns, Joe Kent
Editor: Clare Fordham
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Archive:
The X Factor series 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 (Fremantle/Syco/ITV)
Youtube/nats89
31 min
January 18, 2024 Introducing… Offstage: Inside The X Factor
Join Chi Chi Izundu as she looks back on The X Factor, where contestants perform in front of celebrity judges to realise their dream. It’s a world of glamour and excitement, but also of hard truths, hard words and hard work. For our hopefuls, the first step is the audition process. We go behind the scenes to look at how the process unfolds, and what staff and contestants remember about the beginning of their road to stardom.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor captures the emotion, the excitement and the drama of the show and features some of the captivating characters that led to its enduring success. But it also looks beyond the glitz and glamour revealing what contestants and former staff really think, the toll it took on some of them, and what they say happened behind the scenes.
Offstage: Inside The X Factor is available as a box set on Friday 26 January 2024.
3 min

About Offstage: Inside The X Factor

From the publisher's feed

The fame, fortune and fallout - Chi Chi Izundu looks back at one of Britain's biggest TV shows. The X Factor promised to turn ordinary people into superstars, but at what cost?

Inside The X…