26 seasons. Maybe 250 shows? Five contestants per show? 1,250 total aspiring actors.
How many acting careers came out of that?
The same can be said of lots of things, thousands of AA baseball players hoping for the big break, thousands of golfers both amateur and on the minor tours hoping to get their PGA cards, thousands of musicians hoping to get a record deal. The fact is that only a few make it in any of these categories even though tens of thousands are trying for it.