‘The X Factor’ UK: Louis Walsh talks about ‘funnier’ Simon Cowell

The new season of “The X Factor” UK will be starting up on ITV later this week, and as a result of that, we imagine that we’re going to have a chance to talk about a number of different aspects of it as we get closer and closer to the first episode airs.

First and foremost, though, let’s talk a little bit about what many people are hoping to have leading into the season: More humor. This is a show that does occasionally suffer when it comes to its own self-seriousness, and not knowing that it is sometimes okay to take a deep breath and be a little silly. That’s been a rather frustrating phenomenon to behold over time, so we’re happy to see things lightened up a little bit.

If nothing else, returning judge Louis Walsh seems to think that Simon Cowell is in a little bit of better mood, saying the following (per the Mirror) about the executive producer this year:

“He is very relaxed and he’s very funny this year … I think he’s looking younger this year too, have you noticed? What has he done? Something’s happened? Maybe it’s the lighting…”

To a certain extent, fellow judge Sharon Osbourne echoed that sentiment about working with Simon this time around:

“He wants the show to be back to the way it was, small audition rooms and he wants everyone to have fun … Listen, we’re all competitive with one another because we all want to win, nobody wants to sit there the last few weeks with no one in your category, but at the same time, we’re not so badly competitive.”

We do think that Simon becoming a father in recent years has given him a little more enthusiasm and even sympathy for some of the contestants, and this has already paid dividends on other shows like “Britain’s Got Talent” and the American version of that franchise. It’s time for some of that to turn up here.

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