The only interesting thing about this story is how many people accept it without question. Britney Spears' appearance on the show last year showed her to be completely uninterested in the show and in the other contestants. Why would she be watching it now? The only authority for the story is STV, and the only authority they can come up with is.... "a source". What source, though? Is it the person who sits beside Britney while she's watching on the internet, or is it someone who Britney regularly chats to about what she's watching? And if this source is a regular supplier of tittle-tattle to the media, why hasn't Britney cottoned on to the fact and cut this person out of her social circle? And how was the story passed over? Did STV phone their "source" on the offchance that Britney had been chatting about the X-factor, or did the "source" phone STV?

In a world where tabloid hacks are paid well for celebrity stories, no matter how trivial, what are the chances that this story is entirely invented?