Less than 24 hours have passed since Matt Terry was crowned the winner of The X Factor 2016 and there are already some negative accusations being thrown about.
Terry, who won by 8% over fellow finalist Saara Aalto, is being accused of using subliminal messages to win the show.
For his final song he sang One Day I’ll Fly Away – a choice which is at the centre of a new conspiracy theory. Although the song was first released by Randy Crawford in 1980, it has recently become popular again thanks to the 2016 Christmas advert from John Lewis.
While he could certainly be forgiven for choosing a popular song, the conspiracy has stemmed from the fact the advert with the very song he sang was played multiple times during commercial breaks in between segments of the show.
Viewers are accusing him of using “subliminal messages” to win the show.
Subliminal *one day I'll fly away* messages during #xfactorfinal ads for #johnlewis and #MattTerry final song… #cleverNicole pic.twitter.com/SBiI28Y61A
— Rae Carpenter (@RaeCarpenter) December 11, 2016
So #MattTerry sang One Day I'll Fly Away right after JohnLewis ad ran 3 times. Coincidence I'm sure #xfactorfinal
— WhatsaMata8 (@whatsamata8) December 12, 2016
Is Matt Terry's version of the John Lewis advert an unfair subliminal tie-in to help him win? #xfactorfinal #VoteSaara
— Paul Duerinckx (@drinckx) December 11, 2016
So they play 3 JLew adverts in the ad break… and the JLew song is Matt's winner's single? Subliminal cheekiness #XFactorFinal
— Aaron (@wordsmithaaron) December 11, 2016
Itv cleary want matt to win the subliminal use of this song during last break #xfactorfinal
— Rob Gilbert-Warsop (@robpw2) December 11, 2016
Subliminal messaging now? This song was just played three times in the last ad break alone. #xfactorfinal
— Ghost of Christmas Future (@HMSDisMay) December 11, 2016
Earlier on Saturday night, viewers had noticed another so-called ‘subliminal message’ from Matt when the singer wore black while everyone else wore white.
https://twitter.com/DonWxm/status/807678753631535104
https://twitter.com/StaceyS_C/status/807683840361844737
The plot thickens.
Catch up with this week’s episode of Football Friday Live