Shayne Ward rules himself out of competing on The X Factor All-Stars

Shayne Ward has denied claims that he’s joining The X Factor All-Stars, revealing that he’s too busy to take part.

Simon Cowell is planning a new spin-off of his music talent contest, which will see former contestants compete to be crowned champion of champions.

Recently, judge Louis Walsh – back after a year away from the show – claimed that Shayne would be one of at least three returning winners.

“We do the ‘best of’ all in one week, all the winners are coming back. Leona [Lewis] is coming back, Alexandra [Burke], Shayne, they’re all coming back,” he said.

However, the man himself has now ruled out joining the special series.

Speaking on Loose Women today, Shayne said he isn’t available to take part after landing a new theatre gig.

“I’m not going to be part of that, no,” he confirmed. “It’s only because I’m contractually signed with Kay Mellor for Band Of Gold.

“It’s going in to the theatre, we start rehearsing for that come mid-November and it goes through to March.”

That’s not the only thing keeping him busy, as Shayne is also performing on the upcoming Stepback: 90s vs. 00s arena tour.

He will share the stage with the likes of Five, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched and Blazin’ Squad.

“It’s been a nice year so far, just booking myself up and working hard,” he said. “There’s some incredible acts. It’s gonna be pretty cool.”

Shayne rose to fame when he beat Andy Abraham to victory on the second series of The X Factor in 2004.

He has scored four top 20 albums and seven top 20 singles, with his chart-topping debut track ‘That’s My Goal’ becoming the fastest-selling winner’s single in the show’s history.

More recently, Shayne appeared as Aidan Connor on Coronation Street, his first television acting role.

All-Stars is one of two X Factor spin-offs which will air instead of a regular edition this year. The other, a celebrity version, recently began filming and is due to hit our screens very soon.

In the meantime, sister show Britain’s Got Talent is launching its own all-stars version.

BGT: The Champions kicks off this Saturday (31st August) at 8.00pm on ITV.