You might remember that last weekend I wrote about the X Factor Creeps, who are always getting snotty about how bad they think The X Factor is – even though they watch it every week.

Writer Philip Norman is proving to be a classic example of this species. He watches The X Factor every week (in his leisure time, not for work) and then whines about how much he hates himself for it.  At the beginning of October he wrote in The Independent about how cheesed off he was with the “cruelty” of The X Factor. His charge of cruelty is hysterical indeed, and hypocritical too coming from a man who dubs many of the contestants as “borderline special needs”.

Still, seeing as he hates the show so much he would have stopped watching, right? No, because over a month on he is still watching and still coming out with more snobby crap about the show – this time in the Daily Mail. He describes The X Factor as “a theatre of cruelty”, “a torture chamber” and – astonishing this one coming from a Daily Mail writer – full of “voyeuristic cruelty”.

He doesn’t like the opening auditions, he objects to the judges’ houses stage, he doesn’t like the live shows. He doesn’t like the way the judges bicker with each other,  nor how they build-up the tension when announcing which acts are through to the next round. He doesn’t like the results show being moved to Sunday. He doesn’t like most of the acts, considering even those who have won the show to be “mediocrities”.

Why does he keep watching?

No seriously, why? He was appalled by the way Danni Minogue joked with Danyl Johnson about press reports of his bisexuality. (A Daily Mail journalist taking the moral high ground on the privacy of a celebrity who has had same-sex relationships!) Absurdly, he also argues that to give John and Edward the fame they have worked so hard for would be “cruelty on a truly hideous scale” for them. It really seems to hurt some journalists to see others gain the fame they believe should be theirs.

On and on he watches this show which he considers so cruel. “I don’t like what it says about me,” he says of his continued viewing. What a humourless bore he seems. If you don’t like The X Factor then just stop watching, or at least spare us your self-loathing, patronising verdicts on a show that makes many of us very happy thank you!

I thought Simon Cowell was on great form last night, with his tea-with-your-mother comparison. Looking forward to tonight! Stacey to win (or otherwise Jamie please).