The X Factor

Do you ever get the feeling, while watching The X Factor, that the sole authority bestowed upon Steve Jones is to cut off the judges? And because that's his only real job, he clings to it with every fiber of his sculpted Welsh body, takes it super seriously, and jumps down the judges' throats the second they go over their allotted time, making for some of the most awkward moments in X Factor's short history (including Geo Godley's performance and Paula ripping apart Drew's dress design)?

Well, Steve wishes to set the record straight on his rather stern approach to his task of muting the judges' long-winded critiques, and, no, he's not just a stick in the mud. The poor guy has producers breathing down his neck, which, of course, we don't get to see. He said in a recent appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, "I’m wearing an earpiece and there’s about five people screaming, 'Shut Paula up. Shut her up now. Move on.' I’m going to have hearing damage in this ear by the end of series."

To be fair, it does take Paula, like, a decade to piece together a sentence.

"I feel terrible because I feel on occasions I’m coming across as rude and abrupt and that’s really not me. I cherish every word that comes out of Paula’s, for instances, mouth," Steve said. Nice save, dude. "You know, it’s a two hour long show we’re in limited time. We need a conclusion otherwise it will just kind of end and nothing will have happened."

And there's nothing we hate more than reaching the end of our scheduled DVR recording only to learn there's five minutes of the show left, because the taping went over. So, maybe we should be thanking Steve for cramming all those critiques into their time slots. But perhaps he could learn a few pointers on finessing them a bit more gracefully...from (we can't believe we're suggesting this) Seacrest, perhaps?

We're not the only ones who feel this way. He gets compared to Ryan all the time, of course. How does HE feel about it? Whispered the Welshman:

"Comparisons? I’m hugely flattered. I mean, it’s Ryan Seacrest! This guy is a titan of the industry. He’s the biggest host on the planet — so if my name is even mentioned in the same sentence as this guy, I’m doing something right. I really am. I am overjoyed to be compared to the likes of Ryan. He’s a fantastic host. I’ve met him a few time. He’s really polite, and we have great chats. Yeah, I couldn’t be more happy. I really couldn’t."

We're starting to like this humble host, and since X Factor's been picked up for a second season, we hope he's a part of it. There! We said it!

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