As much as I'd have loved it, realistically Burns wasn't the right man to front the new series. I wonder if he was offered some role in the programme though? It would be a nice touch if there was a nod to his era - perhaps a first episode interview or he could present the trophy at the end of the series?
Ben Shephard is a jobbing presenter with many roles across many formats. I'm uncertain of the choice but am prepared to give him a chance.
Lets see it from this point of view. If Ben Shepard was just a nobody who was auditioning for the host job, he wouldn't get it in a million years. He's just there to grab the show some attention.
Surely there's somebody they could have hired who is popular but actually has an ounce of intelligence? You can't have a host asking the kind of difficult questions that Krypton Factor did without the audience at least thinking that the host might know the answer.
Personally I think Kemp would be a much worse choice.
I thought Ben was by far the best of the Xtra Factor presenters, and as such I'm a fan of his. However I'm not totally convinced this is the right role for him but as a previous poster said, I'm prepared to give him a chance.
Don't forget you're judging his suitability based on the old format of the show - which was pretty serious. There's no point in pretending it wont have been "dumbed down" a little.
They should have given the job to Mark Austin in my opinion but obviously being senior news anchor with ITV doesn't allow him to do other things anymore.