Kimberley Walsh tipped for Xtra Factor job

Kimberley Walsh tipped for Xtra Factor job
Kimberley Walsh tipped for Xtra Factor job (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh is the latest person tipped to be the new presenter of ITV2's The Xtra Factor, according to the papers. The Sunday Mirror reports that the 27-year-old is in the frame after bandmate Cheryl Cole put in a good word for her, following the news last month that Konnie Huq had quit the X Factor spin-off show. And TV execs were reportedly impressed with Kimberley's presenting skills on the Viva show Suck My Pop. "Kimberley is the girl X Factor bosses want for the job," a source told the paper. "She has all the right ingredients – she looks great, she’s feisty, can hold her own and, most importantly, has been a success in the music industry. Cheryl gave producers a glowing reference telling them she would be brilliant for the show." According to the paper Kimberley faces competition from the likes of Dancing on Ice star Laura Hamilton and MTV host Emma Willis. A spokesman for ITV told the paper, "No decision has been made. Several names are in the hat."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.