X Factor winners Alexandra Burke and Little Mix have now been added to The X Factor’s ‘Whose Time Is It Now?’ promo campaign. They join fellow winner Leona Lewis and other successful non-winners such as JLS, One Direction and Olly Murs. This latest development has not gone down well with a previous winner. Despite declining popularity, having a right to be etched (and not erased) in X Factor‘s history is something he feels strongly about.

As stated over the weekend, previous winners Steve Brookstein, Shayne Ward, Leon Jackson, Joe McElderry and Matt Cardle were all dropped from Simon Cowell‘s Syco label for poor sales. In light of the aftermath, neither of them were asked to shoot for the campaign. Shayne Ward has vented his frustrations about the snub in a series of tweets. Ward encountered massive success back in the day. In fact, his winner’s single even outsold what Leona achieved with hers. When an artist gets dropped, X Factor bosses are not going to want that artist to plug their show.

If they no longer have their popularity, they serve no purpose to X Factor because they want CURRENT successors and not someone they would now deem a failure. It’s a horrible concept to grasp but that’s just how it is. Statistically, Leona Lewis and One Direction are now the most successful acts to come out of the UK’s X Factor. One Direction received an RIAA platinum certification this week for selling over a million copies of their debut album in the States. Now that’s major!