X Factor viewers were VERY confused by James Arthur's literally impossible “live” performance
Either James has a Tardis, or there’s something he’s not telling us…
The X Factor began its semi-final process last night, and amid all the trials, tribulations and high-energy performances there was also a guest appearance from a former winner – 2012 champion James Arthur, who was there to sing his brand-new single Naked.
https://twitter.com/JamesArthur23/status/934740604659159040
But soon his appearance had many people asking one question – was he really there at all? Because while the X Factor live shows are, ahem, recorded live (phone votes would be a bit of a waste otherwise, eh?) some eagled-eyed viewers noticed that Arthur was also playing a gig that night somewhere else – the Genting Arena in Birmingham, where he was performing the latest leg of his nationwide tour at around the same time the X Factor was on TV.
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Given that the 105-mile journey between The X Factor studios and the Arena would take a good hour and 45 minutes by car, it was clear that Arthur couldn’t have pulled off the double appearance if everything was as it seemed, so viewers quickly began calling foul play.
https://twitter.com/davidleatham/status/934525924921479169
https://twitter.com/bethanlouux/status/934526695343783937
https://twitter.com/Hayley_p25/status/934511790515515395
https://twitter.com/GrewcockRebecca/status/934525557622099969
https://twitter.com/roisinh_/status/934525539884335105
https://twitter.com/batchelorsa/status/934526612221169664
https://twitter.com/imnickbarnes/status/934525852188135425
https://twitter.com/kimavfc/status/934514469337747456
https://twitter.com/abs_rufc/status/934527792527695872
Confusing stuff – but when spelled out, the truth is actually fairly simple. While the majority of the X Factor studio shows are live, Arthur’s performance was actually recorded a little earlier to fit in with his schedule, then slotted in seamlessly with the main X Factor broadcast.
Still, we can understand all the hoo-ha; the whole thing did leave us scratching our collective RadioTimes.com heads for a while too. But for James Arthur, NOTHING is impossible.
https://youtu.be/lJqbaGloVxg
The X Factor continues on ITV tonight (Sunday 26th November) at 7.30pm