X Factor Tips: First Judge To Lose All Acts

An interesting market because a judge with a group of reasonable performers will probably be beaten by a judge with a few stinkers but one gem.

The bookies have decided that Cheryl has drawn the short straw in 2014 and she’s 7/4 (Skybet) to lose all her acts first. That’s based on the presumption that the other three mentors all have at least one potential finalist, but the former Girls Aloud star does not.

But I would question that this is the case on two counts. Firstly, Lauren Platt and Chloe Jasmine may have more longevity in them than the oddsmakers think at this stage; the girls category is really not so weak at all.

Secondly, Louis and the groups are distinctly vulnerable if the 8-piece boy band quickly fades into obscurity. It’s been said already that there’s a reason why there hasn’t been a successful mob of eight before; it probably doesn’t work, and a group combining 14 and 20-year-olds looks doomed to me.

With Blonde Electra and Only the Young both very unlikely to trouble the latter stages of the competition, Louis Walsh actually looks the best bet to be left mentoring thin air first at 5/2 with Paddy Power.