ITV rapped by Ofcom for Frankie Cocozza swearing during X Factor results show
Ofcom has found ITV’s X Factor in breach of the code, for broadcasting contestant Frankie Cocozza swearing when he got through to the next round.
The incident, which happened before the watershed on 23 October, led to 108 complaints.
When it was announced that Cocozza had made it through to the next week, he was heard to say “Fucking have it. Get in there.”
Channel TV, which compiled the show for ITV, said it regretted the “unexpected and unprompted outburst” and that given the noise and activity in the galleries during the live show, no one heard the offensive term immediately on broadcast, so an apology was not given immediately. The use of the work ‘fucking’ was only discovered after looking at responses on social media.
Channel TV said: “Reviewing the footage it was barely audible above the studio furore but is just about discernable in a quieter domestic setting”.
An apology was then issued on The Xtra Factor, but Ofcom noted that this was on a different channel and about 45 minutes after the incident took place.