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Glee's Darren Criss Offered X Factor Hosting Job!

Find out what happened when Fox's hit singing competition show asked the music man to replace Steve Jones in season two

By Marc Malkin Mar 14, 2012 6:24 PMTags
GLEE, Darren CrissJustin Lubin/FOX

Darren Criss is a very wanted young man.

Not only is he one of the biggest stars to be hatched by Glee, but his last year included starring on Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and filming a movie, Imogene, with Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening.

And now I can exclusively reveal he was recently offered the hosting job at The X Factor...

Mr. Criss politely declined the gig, according to a source.

The Fox show's original host, Steve Jones, was dumped for the upcoming second season as were judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger.

I'm told Criss decided not to join Simon Cowell & Co. because of his busy schedule, plus he'd  rather spend his time singing and dancing than hosting. "They were after him," a show insider said. "But there's no way he could have done it with everything he has going on."

Reps for Criss and Fox did not comment for this story.

Just yesterday, it was announced he'll head up north next month to headline San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre gala.

And, of course, we can't wait to see Criss' musical sequence on Glee with guest star Matt Bomer. We hear they did a killer job covering more than one Duran Duran song.

Now we want to hear from you. What do you think about Criss as host of X Factor? Sound off below.

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