Television phone-in contests have had a tough old time this year.
First there was the Richard And Judy You Say, We Pay malarkey. Then GMTV got embroiled in a similar sort of scandal. And hit ITV show Phone In And Give Us Lots Of Money While Attempting To Find Wholly Arbitrary Answers To Pointless Questions, You Pathetic Gullible Cretins raised more than a few eyebrows out there in viewerland. Surely things couldn't get any worse, right?
Think again. X Factor – grandaddy of all slightly plebeian dial-a-vote TV fests – has sparked off a whole new controversy following allegations that the result was a bloody great big fix. Over 1,500 viewers have called Ofcom so far to complain, meaning that a) they're either really, really angry, or b) they were trying to get through to Simpleton Ring-A-Ling Money Grab and their fingers were too greasy from the massive KFC bucket on their lap to dial the right digits.
