NZ bemused at Bassingthwaighte on X Factor
Natalie Bassingthwaighte has been named as one of the new judges on X Factor New Zealand, but fans of the show in New Zealand aren't really sure who she is.
It was revealed on Thursday that the singer and X Factor Australia judge would be one of the new judges on the reality show after judges Natalia Kills and Willy Moon were sacked for belittling contestant Joe Irvine live.
The other new judge is Shelton Woolright, who was the drummer in Kiwi band Blindspott and is currently the drummer for rock band I Am Giant.
While Bassingthwaighte is known in Australia for her role on Neighbours and for singing with rock group Rogue Traders in the mid-2000s, as well as judging role on The X factor Australia, it seems she hasn't maintained much of a profile in New Zealand.
Fans from New Zealand took to Twitter on Thursday to express their confusion after the announcement was made.
"Oh gtfoh that Natalie Bassing-whatever chick is one of the new judges they picked? ??????????," tweeted @julzisher.
While @brockashby posted: "Shelton Woolright and Natalia someone are the new @xfactornz judges... WHO IS SHE?????? #xfactornz".
Not only were people wondering who she was, but some couldn't even get their heads wrapped around her name.
"Is Bassingthwaighte even a name? Sounds like just a bunch of random scrabble pieces chucked together. #xfactornz@DomHarvey tweeted.
The producers of the show needed to find replacement judges before the next show, which is due to air on Sunday.
They clearly decided it would be easy to rope in an X Factor alum, considering Bassingthwaighte has been a judge on the Australian version of the reality talent show since 2011.
It's not an unheard of practice as other reality TV shows have been known to do the same.
Last year, will.i.am and Kylie Minogue appeared as coaches on The Voice Australia after their stint on the UK version.
This year, it's the turn of Jessie J to take over coaching duties on The Voice Australia, she worked on the UK version of the show in 2012 and 2013.
