Never one to pass up the opportunity to flap his gums, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has been bad-mouthing ITV1’s The X Factor. With only the Beeb’s absolutely woeful Dance X to compete with the singing contest, The X Factor has been raking in the viewers but the Lord reckons that when his shows (Any Dream Will Do and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?) have been in the mix, it’s a different story.

“Last year it [The X Factor] was up against Maria for a few weeks” states the Lord. “We took a big chunk of their ratings. We were getting about six million and they were getting about seven million. So of course they are doing well this year — there’s nothing up against them.”

The Lord will be back on TV screens later in the year in a Christmas special featuring the finalists from his two shows. And though he’s helped find a Maria and a Joseph, he doesn’t consider his work done yet with rumours that he will be heading up a new casting search for either West Side Story or My Fair Lady.

As much as I like these shows – are we going to populate the entire West End with reality show TV contestants? And doesn’t it send out a mixed message to other aspiring performers when TV hopefuls bag the plum roles and everyone else fills out the chorus? Maybe the Lord should give it a rest for a while.

[via The Sun]