Despite the shameful incompetence that followed Popstars The Rival regarding the management of boyband winners One True Voice, one of the group's members, Matt Johnson, is planning to go through the whole reality pop show thing again. Word is Johnson has put himself forward for Simon Cowell's new reality show The X Factor and, according to the Sun, he has been fastracked into the final 40 who will appear on the show.
An insider told the paper: "Matt is definitely through to the finals but it's supposed to be a big secret. He turned up at one audition in the Midlands - even though he's from the North West. Presumably he had to be seen to audition with everyone else. And surprise, surprise, he's made it through to the next stage. Eventually he will face the public vote. But he's certainly been given preferential treatment".
Then again, the show's producers are probably desperate to fill up their quota of 40 decent hopefuls to appear on the programme, given comments made by Cowell last weekend. He revealed that, despite a record 45,000 applications for the show, he has only seen a handful who have the required talents. "It's unbelievable. Only a handful of people are anywhere near decent. You can't imagine who we've had through our doors. It's a serious worry."
The X Factor begins this Autumn on ITV.