She has made her name as “Scary Spice”, one fifth of the infamous Spice Girls, and she definitely lived up to her moniker as the guest judge on this year’s X-Factor. Though she was cynical, critical and downright insulting on the first episode back, hers was arguably the best presence on The X-Factor since the original Mr Nasty, Simon Cowell!
The show started off with guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, the airy-fairy empty seat filler who will eventually become the permanent fourth judge alongside Gary Barlow, Louis Walsh and Tulisa. Yet when Mel B took on the role as the has-been guest judge, things started to heat up. Her frank words of “advice” to contestants and comments on out of sync dance routines came as a shock. Let’s be honest though- her harsh words were exactly what the whole nation was thinking, but too afraid to admit. One shocking moment saw her leaving an 82 year old (the oldest contestant ever on The X Factor) on the verge of tears after an endearing rendition of “Make Me Feel My Love”.
Her grumpiness shocked contestants and judges alike but she appeared quite unfazed. Gary asked her “How do you sleep at night?” with Dermot adding to a contestant “Where is her heart?”, while Louis was stunned by her rearrangement of the Spice Girls dolls backstage, leaving Geri and Victoria on the wayside. However harsh, I seem to be slightly drawn to this no nonsense diva, and I’m hoping Simon Cowell will consider Mel as a permanent judge instead of the sappy Nicole.
Her bitchiness initially helped to bring in more exposure to the show after the flagging ratings and lack of talent from last year. Within minutes, “Mel B” and #GrumpySpice were trending on Twitter. Nevertheless, it seems she hasn’t quite done the trick in terms of ratings, which have dropped a massive 3 million viewers since last year’s launch- the show’s lowest audience ratings in six years. Could this be the beginning of the end of Simon Cowell’s X Factor reign?