Thousands of viewers complained, with many asking the episode be taken off the air entirely.
On Saturday night’s episode of The X-Factor, viewers at home were slightly confused when the voices on screen began to sound distorted.
Initially, many assumed it was a part of the night’s theme – Fright Night – to give off a creepy vibe. However, that soon fell away when the same voice distortion, which many viewers described as sounding like the Daleks from Doctor Who, continued over entire songs and the judge’s comments afterwards.
The sound issues distorted contestants Danny Tetley and Anthony Russell’s performances, with viewers confused as to why host Dermot O’Leary didn’t call attention to the problems. It was later revealed that the show was pre-recorded on Saturday afternoon.
The X-Factor host channel ITV flashed a message up on screen during the sound problems, stating: “We are sorry for the temporary interference in sound.”
However, Irish host channel Virgin Media One did not post any such message, leaving viewers in Ireland even more confused.
Viewers at home were quick to react to the problems:
https://twitter.com/hostproductions/status/1058832726026080258
Sound engineers at #XFactor right now. pic.twitter.com/bJ4NWCxMyl
— Nick Betts MCIM (@Betts_N_L) November 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/will_conway/status/1058830854083018753
Don’t worry about the X Factor sound, they’re working on it. #XFactor pic.twitter.com/LHO9VH16OT
— Jack Horwood (@JackHorwood) November 3, 2018
https://twitter.com/bethhff/status/1058832040722923525
https://twitter.com/jmehough/status/1058832473415663627
ITV later posted a message saying “Due to a technical issue tonight’s tonight’s The X-Factor vote has been cancelled. It will open in tomorrow night’s show.”
Additionally, an X Factor spokeswoman said: “We apologise for the technical issue that affected the sound on part of tonight’s episode of The X Factor. We are investigating why this happened.
“We can confirm tonight’s public vote has been cancelled and will instead open in tomorrow night’s show at 8.30pm on ITV.”
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