Well, X Factor fans, you can cross off two more reported names off the list for Season 2’s co-hosts.
When Celebuzz spoke with Simon Cowell in London recently, the judge and executive producer simply said, “No,” when asked if reported frontrunners Glee star Kevin McHale and rock star daughter Kelly Osbourne would fill the open posts on the show’s second season.
But, with the competition’s Wednesday premiere barreling down on the FOX competition, Cowell reiterated his plan to hire two people to fill Season 1 host Steve Jones’ shoes very soon.
What are Cowell’s plans for the new co-hosts?
“It will definitely be two co-hosts,” he confirmed to us. “And if it goes the way I’m hoping it will go, we’re going to make an announcement this week.”
Most recently, Keeping Up With the Kardashians star Khloe Kardashian was reported to be a frontrunner for one of the vacant co-hosting spots, which Cowell has said will be filled my a male-female duo.
Kevin Jonas (whose brother, Nick Jonas, has signed on as a Season 2 mentor), BET’s 106 & Park host Rocsi Diaz, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen, Extra host Mario Lopez and High School Musical’s Corbin Bleu are other names most recently bandied about for the co-hosting job.
Season 2 will look and feel vastly different from the inaugural season according to Cowell. The most noticeable change comes with the addition of pop stars Britney Spears and Demi Lovato to the judges’ panel alongside record producer L.A. Reid, filling Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger’s spots.
“I think Britney Spears still is the most interesting pop star in the world. I genuinely believe that,” he told us of hiring the “Baby One More Time” singer. “She’s got the incredible staying power, that star power and she’s unpredictable.”
And what about Lovato? “Demi, I think we’ve caught an artist on the rise and in fact this week she’s No. 1 again for the second week running,” Cowell, whose media and recording company, Syco, counts One Direction, Leona Lewis, Olly Murs and X Factor’s Season 1 winner Melanie Amaro among its artists, said.
“But, I could see that coming two years ago, so she was on my list,” he continues about Lovato’s success. “So, I got her at the right time. And it’s good, because she’s the same age as the vast majority of our audience, which is important.”
In his quest to differentiate the show from others — such as American Idol and The Voice – and snag higher ratings than The X Factor’s first season, Cowell is feeling very excited about what he has come up with and the approach of “telling the story of the show through the contestants not through the producers or the judges.”
“It’s almost like making the show for the first time, how I felt when I first made Idol 10 or 11 years ago,” Cowell explained. “I have the same feeling for the show this year. This is different territory for me now.”
Watch Celebuzz’s full interview with Cowell above.
The X Factor returns with its two-night premiere on Wednesday at 8 PM on FOX.
Will you be rewarding Cowell’s work by tuning in? Tell us in the comments section below.
