Louis Tomlinson’s Link With X-Factor Is Terrible News For One Direction Fans

Louis Tomlinson is once again being heavily tipped to return to the X-Factor. Lets face it: Tomlinson being linked with X-Factor is hardly news. Louis did, after all, join Simon Cowell at the judges’ houses stage of last year’s show, and it was widely reported at the time that Tomlinson would play a bigger role in the next season of the failing show. What may be different this time is that the story was broken by Cowell’s friends at U.K. tabloid The Sun, an outlet that has been primarily responsible for the trashing of Tomlinson’s reputation for the best part of the last year. Interestingly, Sun‘s Dan Wootton didn’t have a bad word to say about Tomlinson in the story.

Ooh Louis Tomlinson is already the fave to replace Nick Grimshaw on The X Factor >>> https://t.co/7zwR95Gcei pic.twitter.com/HWBp6uDdFe

— MTV UK (@MTVUK) February 19, 2016

The Sun reports that both Caroline Flack and Harry Styles’ pal Nick Grimshaw have “jumped before they were pushed” from the show. According to an “unnamed source,” Tomlinson and former judge Louis Walsh are apparently “set to battle it out” for a spot on the show.

“Louis Tomlinson is very likely to replace Grimmy. He agreed in principle to the job while assisting Simon Cowell during the judges’ houses round last year.

“But Simon remains very fond of Louis Walsh and came very close to bringing him back during last year’s live shows. He felt a certain something was missing on the show without him.”

Whilst speculation was raging as to whether 24-year-old Tomlinson might become a permanent addition to the show Louis did say that he was still an X-Factor fan and hinted that he might be interested at trying his hand at TV presenting.

“I’m the biggest X-Factor fan and would love to be there week in, week out and really give that level of passion. I think I’d be a decent judge.”

Turning his hand to TV may well be something that Louis would be interested in and X-Factor, where Tomlinson and One Direction made their names, might seem an obvious choice.

The Daily Mail reports that Tomlinson has already agreed in principle to replace Grimmy during the next season of the show.

“Louis Tomlinson is very likely to replace Grimmy. He agreed in principle to the job while assisting Simon Cowell during the judges’ houses round last year.”

If Tomlinson does return to X-Factor, it would be a huge blow to One Direction fans as it would perhaps indicate that Louis does not intend to distance himself from One Direction’s management team. Many One Direction fans despise Cowell, Modest management, and HJPR for exploiting a group of young men who were aged between 16 and 18-years-old when they appeared on the show.

Louis Tomlinson battling with Louis Walsh for X Factor job after Nick Grimshaw exit – The Sun https://t.co/Kk8mDKEGuI

— Louis Tomlinson News (@LouTomlinsonACE) February 19, 2016

As reported in The Inquisitr a few weeks ago, Harry Styles sacked both Modest Management and HJPR as he looks to pursue solo projects during One Direction’s forthcoming hiatus. Most fans were hopeful that Louis and the rest of the boys would follow Harry’s lead.

There was speculation just a couple of weeks back that Louis’ bandmate Niall Horan may be set to Launch a golf management company. As was also reported in The Inquisitr, that story indicated that Horan would be working in conjunction with Modest on that project.

Tomlinson’s fans have been hopeful that One Direction’s hiatus and Harry Styles decision to distance himself from One Direction’s current management was laying the path for Louis and the rest to follow. If Tomlinson is committed to X-Factor, it is unlikely that he would be able to distance himself from Cowell, who is known to be obsessively controlling.

As always seems to be the case where Tomlinson and One Direction are concerned there has been no official announcement and Louis’ reps have made no comment about the matter to date. Whilst Louis’ fans would doubtless be happy to see him develop a TV career, they will be horrified to think that Tomlinson is not distancing himself from a management set up they despise.

[Photo by John Davisson/Invision/AP]