Christine Bleakley set to take over from Dermot as XFactor host
Christine Bleakley X Factor
According to reports, ITV are keen to get their monies worth with their £4million contract with Christine Bleakley as they are set to make Christine Bleakley the new face of the X Factor as the Saturday night show host, replacing Dermot O’Leary.
A senior television source told the Mail: “Dermot has made it clear that he would like to move to America full time. His girlfriend Dee Kopang is already working as a TV producer in Los Angeles, so he would like to try his luck in Hollywood. He is already spending the majority of his time out there with Dee, so it would make sense.”
Last night, a source close to O’Leary stressed: “Dermot loves the X Factor and has no plans to leave. If he did get the X Factor USA job, he would travel between London and LA, just like Simon Cowell, who will appear on both versions.”
The Daily Mail have said that Christine ‘looks set to quit her new ‘Daybreak’ show and sign up as new X Factor host’ however we can’t see her quitting the show before she has even started. Christine left her £90,000-a-year job with the BBC to move to ITV with former co-host Adrian Chiles for the revamped ITV breakfast programme ‘Daybreak’ launching on September 6.
Sources close to Christine have issued their concerns though wondering how Christine will cope with the early mornings: “No one is sure how Christine will cope with the 3.30am wake-up call for very long. Everyone’s smart money is on Adrian and Christine hosting for up to a year before moving on.”
These aren’t the first X Factor rumours we’ve heard about Christine as earlier in the year she was hinted at being the new ITV2 Xtra Factor presenter, however this job went to Konnie Huq. A source said at the time: “Christine was never going to host The Xtra Factor, but she has always been a fan of the show.”
