In the wake of Liam Payne's untimely death last year, several former X Factor contestants have criticised the show for a lack of mental health support. Among those voicing their concerns were Katie Waissel and Rebecca Ferguson, both of whom had personal connections with the One Direction singer.
Amidst these allegations, Dermot O'Leary, who presented the X Factor from 2007 until 2018 with a hiatus in between, has responded to the criticism levelled at the show. In a discussion with The Times, the 51 year old host, who grew up in Colchester, reflected on how the programme was run and the participants' well-being.
He said: "If the show was made now, it'd be made differently. The culture is different, but it was pretty much always celebratory. Look, not everyone on the show is going to knock it out of the park. Not everyone is going to have the best experience. But most of the people we had on were treated really well, and a lot of people who have talked negatively about their experiences are talking about what happened after they left."
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He then remarked on the strong nostalgia many ex-contestants feel for their days on the show. He added: "I think 99 out of 100 actually missed the show - they missed the bubble. So if there is a duty of care to be looked at, it's what happens afterwards.", reports the Mirror.
Liam Payne died in October after falling from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam shot to fame on the X Factor with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayne Malik. In 2010, they initially auditioned as solo artists, but were then put together to form what would become the iconic boyband One Direction.
Reflecting on Liam, Dermot said: "He was both wise and sort of a young soul at the same time. And that's an industry-wide conversation that should be had.
"Duty of care is the most important thing when doing shows like this and I wouldn't dare to presume to speak for everyone. But in my experience, it was always taken seriously on the show - and would be even more thorough now."
