The X Factor
Genre	Reality competition
Created by	Simon Cowell
Directed by	Phil Heyes
Creative directors	Brian Friedman Brian Burke Elizabeth Honan Jerry Reeve Mark Swanhart Ashley Evans Antony Ginandjar
Presented by	Kate Thornton Dermot O'Leary Caroline Flack Olly Murs
Judges	Louis Walsh Sharon Osbourne Simon Cowell Dannii Minogue Cheryl Tulisa Kelly Rowland Gary Barlow Nicole Scherzinger Mel B Nick Grimshaw Rita Ora Robbie Williams Ayda Field Louis Tomlinson
Voices of	Peter Dickson Redd Pepper
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	15
No. of episodes	445
Production
Executive producers	Simon Cowell Richard Holloway Beth Hart Mark Sidaway Cheryl[1] Caroline Davies Lee McNicholas Iona Mackenzie
Running time	60–150 minutes
Production companies	Syco Entertainment Thames (2012–2018) Talkback Thames (2004–2011)
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	4 September 2004 (2004-09-04) – 2 December 2018 (2018-12-02)
Related
Franchise The Xtra Factor Xtra Bites

The X Factor is a British reality television music competition, created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's Thames and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment for ITV,^[2] as well as simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. The programme ran for around 445 episodes across fifteen series, and with each series broadcast each year primarily from late summer to early winter, until its final episode in December 2018. All episodes were presented by Dermot O'Leary, with some exceptions: the first three series were originally hosted by Kate Thornton; while Caroline Flack and Olly Murs hosted the show for the twelfth series.

Each year of the competition, contestants of all ages and backgrounds can audition for the competition in order prove they have singing talent. Auditionees attempt to do so before a panel of three judges, each selected for their background in the music industry  – these have included Cowell, Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne, Cheryl Cole, Gary Barlow, Rita Ora, and Robbie Williams. Those that make it through the auditions enter a bootcamp stage in which the three judges each take charge of a category of contestants to mentor, determining who may move on to the live stages of the contest, with a public vote in the live rounds eliminating these contestants one by one. The winner of the live final receive a recording contract with record label Syco Music and a cash payment, though the majority is allocated to marketing and recording costs.^[3]

At the same time of its premiere, The X Factor was accompanied by spin-off behind-the-scenes show called The Xtra Factor on ITV2, which focused on the recent episode's performances; this was later replaced in 2016 with an online spin-off show, Xtra Bites, on ITV Hub.^[4] The programme itself proved popular on British television,^[5] attracting high viewing figures at its peak  – over 14 million on average in the seventh series  – leading to the formation of an international franchise. In addition, many of its winners, including JLS, Diana Vickers, One Direction and Ella Henderson, later went on to release singles that entered number-one in the UK charts.

From 2011, viewing figures began to decline, and Cowell later opted to rest the programme in 2019, assigning two spin-offs as mini-series that year  – The X Factor: Celebrity and The X Factor: The Band. In February 2020, Cowell placed the programme in hiatus for that year until he could make a decision on its future,^[6] before ITV announced on 28 July 2021 that the programme had been axed after 17 years.^[7]

The programme's format was devised by Sony Music executive Simon Cowell in 2004.^[8] The concept for The X Factor stemmed from his involvement as a judge on Pop Idol, another music talent competition that ITV aired between 2001-2003. While the programme had been massively successful in its own rights, Cowell disliked the lack of control that he and the judges had on the contestant's progress  – several individuals, including fellow judge Pete Waterman, agreed with him that a contestant who won the second series of Pop Idol had been unworthy to earn victory compared to others who had participated. to be unworthy of their victory.^[9] Cowell eventually made plans to devise a new televised competition, in which he would own the television rights and thus maintain control on decisions held on the new programme. In 2004, ITV secured the rights to broadcast The X Factor after Cowell approached them with his concept,^[8] despite a legal challenge by the creator of Pop Idol over perceived similarities between the two programmes.^[10]

Each year's competition begins with auditions round, which consists of three stages held several months prior to the series premiere, and within venues around the United Kingdom; in some series, auditions were also allowed within the Republic of Ireland. Participants are required to provide a performance across each stage, focused on singing a piece from another artist to gauge their musical talent. The first round consists of auditionees performing before production staff  – either by application and appointment, or at "open" auditions that anyone can attend. Those wishing to apply could do so via postal or online applications,^[11] with The X Factor having no upper-age limit, and no restriction on groups participating. If an auditionee passes this stage, they then move on to the second stage in which they perform before a senior production member.^[12] Both of these stages are not filmed, but shots of the crowds waiting to audition are later spliced into audition episodes during final editing; the televised version can sometimes misrepresent the process in this fashion by implying that huge crowds all perform before the judges.^[12]

Participants that make it to the third stage of auditions then conduct their performance and potential singing talent before the judges for that year's competition. To proceed into the next round of the contest, each participant must secure a majority vote from the judges, otherwise they are eliminated at this point; the judges themselves will usually comment on what they heard first, before they cast their vote. For the majority of series (Series 1-5, 10-11, and 13-14), the third stage auditions were conducted in a closed room in which performance were done without a backing track, while for other series, they were conducted before a live audience (similar to Britain's Got Talent, with performances either done a cappella or over a backing track. Filming takes place during this stage, with the final edits for audition episodes focusing on the best, the worst and the most bizarre.^[13]

In the second round, participants who reach this stage are sent to a "bootcamp" to refine their performances, while they are organised into categories based on the conditions of their application. The first two category consists of men and women solo acts aged under 24  – both catergories were conjoined in early series until separated in the fourth series  – with the minimum age allowed being 16 (except for the fourth to sixth series where it was lowered to 14). The third category consists of men and women solo acts aged over 25 (with the exception of a few series were the minimum age was raised to 28).^{[14][15][16][17]} The final category consists of group acts, which include two or more members within each group. During this time, the producers decide on which judge for that year's competition is assigned to mentoring one of the category of participants. After the judges receive their assigned category, they then oversee two stages of performances from participants in each category, in which they must whittle down the number of participants to around six per category (eight for the seventh and eighth series)^[14]. The process varies across the programme's history  – in most cases, their performances during this stage determines whether they move on to the next round or not; in some series, audition tapes are reviewed before the round with the judges making their choices before this stage of the competition.

Once the judges each have their selected participants for their category to mentor, these participants move on to the "judges' home" stage of the competition, which is held in private residences for each judge; according to Louis Walsh, these homes tend to not belong to the judges, but rented out for this purpose.^[18] In this stage, the participants each conduct a performance before their category's judge, who must decide which of their group will proceed into the live rounds.^[19][20]

Both the bootcamp and the judges' homes stages of the contest are pre-recorded, though in some cases, either between the first and second stages of Bootcamp or prior to judges' houses, judges may look at certain rejected solo artists who they feel have potential but may be better suited in a group, and in an attempt to give them a lifeline, then send these acts into a room to form a number of different groups, each depending on size, height, fashion and chemistry. Lineup changes may also sometimes occur depending on what the judges feel the group is missing or which members they think work well with others. In the tenth series, the bootcamp stage was changed to a new format called "Six-Chair Challenge" in which participants had to secure a majority vote to sit in one of six empty chairs for their category, to move into the next stage; if all six seats were filled, the judge of that category must replace one of these participants with another they wish to see through. This new format, despite some tweaks, was not well received by viewers after its introduction.^[21]

Contestants who make it through both the second and third stages eventually enter the live rounds of the competition. By this stage they compete against each other over a series of elimination heats, with those that make it through competition to win in a live final, with these filmed in two parts in a fixed studio venue (except for the final after the eighth series): a performance episode featuring all active participants; and a results episode, which includes a live or pre-recorded performances by celebrity performers. During this time, they move into shared accommodation while involved in the live episodes, sharing this with production staff;^[22] filming "behind-the-scenes" within the accommodation is frequently down and used in live episodes for The Xtra Factor. In some series, some additional participants are sometimes selected from the rejects to act as wildcards in these stages, alongside those who progressed to the live episodes.

In these stages, each participant not only performs on live television, but also before the judges and a live studio audience. Their routine is often designed to fully judge their singing talent, appearance, personality and stage presence that may not have been noticeable during auditions, with their routine focusing a performance to a specific song  – originally a pop or contemporary hit from the charts in early series, before being later assigned based on the musical theme for the episode. Performance may sometimes be accompanied by backing dancers and musicians, and, in some cases, participants may also provide their own music and/or dance routines. At the end of each performance, the judges provide feedback on each performance, with their discussions often regularly adding entertainment value to each live episode. However, success is determined by the public vote in each episode. The system involves a the same phone number, with exception for the last two digits which, beginning at "01", is assigned to each participant by order of appearance. The phone number is displayed twice for viewers  – once after a participant's performance is over, and a second time after all performances are completed and phone lines opened. Voting is conducted over a set time period, and closed before the results episode of each stage of the live rounds is shown, with the public vote results not detailing the actual number of votes or the ranked order (1st to last) the public placed each participant in.^[23]

In the elimination heats, the two participants to be the lowest ranked in the public vote are revealed, and thus face off against each other in a "final showdown". This consists of conducting a new performance primarily for the judges  – while earlier series focused on reprisal of their earlier songs, producers later changed this after the fourth series to allow them to pick new songs to perform to. After their performances are completed, the judges vote on which act to eliminate by a majority vote; though since the fourth series saw the inclusion of a fourth judge, the results in the public vote end the deadlock of a tied vote between the judges. After the number of participants reach a set amount in the final heat, no showdown is involved  – the participant who polled with the fewest votes in the public vote is automatically eliminated immediately.

The winner of The X Factor is awarded a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music, in association with Sony Music. In series 5, this deal consisted of a £150,000 cash advance with the balance covering the costs of recording and marketing.^[3] Other highly placed contestants may also be offered recording deals, but this is not guaranteed.^[3] In series 1–3, the premise of The X Factor was that the winner would be managed in the industry by their mentor on the show. With Cowell, Osbourne and Walsh as judges/mentors, any of the three would be qualified to do so. Following the appointment of singer Minogue as a judge in series 4, the same principle could not universally apply. In fact, when Minogue won series 4 with Leon Jackson, a new outside manager was appointed.

The X Factor Live Tour is a live show that tours the UK and Ireland in the months following the conclusion of the series. It features an array of finalists from the most recent The X Factor series. From 2005 until 2010, Jeff Brazier hosted the tour. Becca Dudley took over the hosting duties from the 2018 tour, which sees a revamped format in which the finalists compete to be the winner of each night's tour, with the arena audience voting for the night's winner.

From series 1–3, the X Factor judges were music executive and TV producer Simon Cowell, and music managers Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, although Paula Abdul was a guest judge at the London auditions in series 3.^[24] On 8 March 2007, it was announced that Walsh would not be returning as a judge for series 4.^[25] On 4 June, it was confirmed that Brian Friedman, who was hired after impressing Cowell on his show Grease Is the Word, would be replacing Walsh, along with the news of Australian singer and Australia's Got Talent judge Dannii Minogue. On 22 June, it was confirmed that Friedman had been reassigned the role of creative director and would be replaced on the panel by Walsh.^[26] Minogue became the first female judge to win after her series 4 victory with Leon Jackson.

Speculation surrounded judging line-up changes for series 5, centering on whether Osbourne would return. On 6 June 2008, six days before filming for series 5 was due to begin, ITV confirmed that Osbourne had left the show,^[27] and a number of other artists and producers were approached regarding her replacement. On 10 June, Cheryl Cole was confirmed as Osbourne's replacement.^[28][29]

Despite rumours that Minogue would leave the show after series 5,^[30][31] all four judges from series 5 returned for series 6.^[32]

Due to Minogue's maternity leave during series 7, a series of guest judges filled in for her at the audition stages before she rejoined the panel in September. The guest judges were Geri Halliwell, Natalie Imbruglia, Katy Perry, Pixie Lott and Nicole Scherzinger. In July 2010, Cole was diagnosed with malaria towards the end of the auditions, so Scherzinger returned as a guest judge for bootcamp.^{[citation needed]}

On 5 May 2011, it was announced that Cowell and Cole would not be returning to the judging panel for the eighth series, to concentrate on the American version of the programme.^[33] On 14 May, it was announced that Minogue would not be returning either. Of her decision, Minogue said "During discussions for me to return [to The X Factor] it became clear that unfortunately, this year, The X Factor audition dates in the UK clash with the live shows of Australia's Got Talent during June and July. For this reason I am unable to return.".^[34] After Cowell, Minogue and Cole announced their leave, a number of celebrities were linked with judging roles, including Frankie Sandford,^[35] Gary Barlow,^{[citation needed]} Noel Gallagher, Nicole Scherzinger,^[36] Tulisa,^[37] Kelly Rowland^[38] and Alesha Dixon,^[39] though Dixon ruled herself out, due to her commitments with Strictly Come Dancing,^[40] she later joined Cowell's other show Britain's Got Talent.^[41] On 30 May, it was announced that Barlow, Rowland and Tulisa would join Walsh for series 8.^[42][43] On 29 and 30 October, Rowland was unable to travel back from Los Angeles as she had a throat infection, and was unable to judge the fourth week of the live shows, so series 5 winner Alexandra Burke took her place.^[44]

Barlow,^[45][46] Walsh^[47] and Tulisa^[48] returned for series 9. Rowland left due to other commitments.^[49][50] Geri Halliwell, Leona Lewis, Rita Ora, Nicole Scherzinger, Mel B and Anastacia all filled in as guest judges during the audition stage of the competition until a permanent judge was found.^[51] Scherzinger was confirmed as Rowland's replacement, and reappeared on the panel from the Newcastle auditions on a permanent basis.^[52][53]

On 21 May 2013, ending months of media speculation, Tulisa announced that she would not return as a judge for the 10th series.^[54] The following day, Osbourne's return to the show and appointment as Tulisa's replacement for series 10 was announced, along with confirmation of returning judges Walsh, Barlow and Scherzinger.^[55] Osbourne later clarified in July that her return was not permanent, and that she would leave once more at the conclusion of series 10.^[56] Barlow announced during the first live show of series 10 that it would be his last series on the show.^[57]

On 7 February 2014, it was confirmed that Cowell would return as a judge for series 11.^[58][59] On 10 March, Cowell confirmed that Cole (then Fernandez-Versini) would return as a judge for the 11th series as a replacement for Osbourne.^[60][61] On 30 May, Walsh confirmed that he was returning for his 11th series.^[62] On 10 June, it was confirmed that Spice Girls member Mel B would join the panel as Scherzinger's replacement for the 11th series.^[63]

Cowell was confirmed to return as a judge for the 12th series.^[64] In April 2015, Walsh sighted his desire to quit the show and return to management, and that it would take serious thought for him to return for the series' 12th series. He also revealed that he was in the dark about whom Cowell had the intentions of bringing onto the panel.^[65] On 14 May 2015, Walsh confirmed his exit from the series, stating, "The truth is I've done it for 11 years; I never thought I would even be on TV for four or five. To get 10 was great, to get 11 was amazing – I'm not hanging around for them this year." On 16 June, it was announced that Fernandez-Versini would return to the panel, alongside new judges radio personality Nick Grimshaw and series 9 guest judge, Rita Ora, who was previously a coach on the rival show, The Voice UK.^[66]

On 18 February 2016, a series representative announced Grimshaw's departure from the judging panel, confirming: "We are sad to see him go but wish him all the best."^[67] On 5 April 2016, Fernandez-Versini announced her departure from the series, choosing instead to concentrate on her music career.^[68] On 10 May, Ora confirmed she would not return for the 13th series of the show.^[69] On 1 June 2016, the line-up for series 13 was confirmed as Cowell, Scherzinger, Osbourne and Walsh.^[70] In December 2016, Walsh confirmed we would continue to judge the series through 2018, stating he had signed through "the next two years".^[71] That same month, both Osbourne and Scherzinger cast doubt on their return, with Osbourne citing her dual-work on The Talk, and Scherzinger stating: "I can't confirm that I'm going to [be back] but I think if I did return it would have to be with this panel because I'm really close with this panel. [...] I've really enjoyed myself and we're really close."^[72][73] On 13 April 2017, Cowell announced his intentions to retain the same judging panel for the fourteenth series.^[74] In June 2017, it was announced that the judging panel would remain the same as the previous series.^[75] On 7 June 2018, ITV announced Cowell would return to the show, with long-running judge, Walsh, announcing his departure;^[76] Osbourne announced that she would only be part of the show's live episodes, becoming the series' first-ever fifth judge.^[77] On 17 July 2018, Robbie Williams and his wife, Ayda Field, along with former One Direction contestant, Louis Tomlinson were announced to be joining the series' judging panel.^[78] On 30 September 2018, Osbourne announced her decision to no longer appear as a judge during the live shows, stating that she's "seen the new judges finding their rhythm and are doing brilliantly."^[79]

In 2019, Williams and Field announced their departures from the programme.^[80] Tomlinson departed the show, as well.^{[citation needed]}

• Judges gallery
• 
  Louis Walsh (2004–2014, 2016–2017)
• 
  Sharon Osbourne (2004–2007, 2013, 2016–2017)
• 
  Simon Cowell (2004–2010, 2014–2018)
• 
  Dannii Minogue (2007–2010)
• 
  Cheryl (2008–2010, 2014–2015)
• 
  Tulisa (2011–2012)
• 
  Kelly Rowland (2011)
• 
  Gary Barlow (2011–2013)
• 
  Nicole Scherzinger
  (2012–2013, 2016–2017)
• Mel B (2014)
  Mel B (2014)
• 
  Nick Grimshaw (2015)
• 
  Rita Ora (2015)
• 
  Robbie Williams (2018)
• 
  Ayda Field (2018)
• 
  Louis Tomlinson (2018)

The first three series of the show were hosted by Kate Thornton. She was replaced from series 4 by Dermot O'Leary who signed a contract worth £1 million to present two series of the programme on ITV.^[81] O'Leary was not forced to leave the Big Brother franchise and continued to present Big Brother sister shows during summer 2007, but he later announced that Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack was to be his last Big Brother hosting role so that he could focus on presenting The X Factor.^[82] In 2013, Caroline Flack became a backstage presenter for the live shows on Saturdays.^[83] On 27 March 2015, O'Leary announced that he was quitting the show in order to pursue other projects. On 16 April 2015, ITV confirmed that both Olly Murs and Flack would take over presenting duties, becoming the first duo to host the show.^[84] On 21 February 2016, during an interview with The Sun, Murs confirmed his decision to quit the series in order to focus on his music. In a statement, Murs stated, "This was an incredibly hard decision to make and one I didn't take lightly as I've really enjoyed co-hosting The X Factor."^[85] Following Murs' decision to exit the series, Flack confirmed she would exit as well, stating, "I have had a brilliant time working on The X Factor over the last few years, and hosting the main show was just fantastic – I made some amazing friends."^[86] On 29 March 2016, O'Leary announced his return to the series, stating he was "very flattered to be asked back" and that he was also "really looking forward" to returning as host.^[87]

Friedman served as performance coach and choreographer (billed as "Creative Director") from series 4–7 and left before series 8 to join the American version. Brian Burke and Elizabeth Honan replaced him for series 8, although Friedman returned for three weeks in series 9 and Honan did not return. For series 10, Burke was replaced by Jerry Reeve and Mark "Swany" Swanhart. Friedman returned as creative director in series 11, replacing Reeve and Swanhart. Yvie Burnett has been The X Factor's vocal coach since series 2, but was replaced in series 7 by Ali Tennant and Savan Kotecha. However, Tennant's contract was ended before the live shows and Burnett was reinstated.^[88] In series 7, Richard "Biff" Stannard started work as show song producer for Minogue's contestants,^[89] and Grace Woodward joined the series as Fashion Director.^[90] Voice-overs are provided by Peter Dickson and Enn Reitel. Dickson announced his departure from the show on 28 July 2015,^[91] but announced his return due to "popular demand" on 30 October 2015.^{[citation needed]}

• Presenters gallery
• 
  Kate Thornton (2004–2006)
• 
  Dermot O'Leary (2007–2014, 2016–2018)
• 
  Caroline Flack (2015)
• 
  Olly Murs (2015)

In each series, each judge is allocated a category to mentor and chooses a small number of acts (three or four, depending on the series) to progress to the live finals. From series 1–11 and 13 onwards, these categories were decided by the producers of the show. In series 12 viewers voted via hashtags on Twitter to determine which of the judges is allocated each of the four categories.^[92] This table shows, for each series, which category each judge was allocated and which acts he or she put through to the live finals.

  – Winning judge/category. Winners are in bold, eliminated contestants in small font.

To date, 15 series have been broadcast, as summarised below.

Viewing figures of around 10 million were claimed for series 2 and 4, and 11 to 12 million for series 5. Over three million public votes were cast in series 2 and six million in the first part of the final. The series 3 final attracted 8 million votes^[97] and a peak of 12.6 million viewers.^[98] The series 4 final drew 12.7 million viewers – a 55% share of the terrestrial TV audience.^[99] In series 5, 12.8 million tuned in to see show of 29 November 2008 featuring guest Britney Spears.^{[citation needed]} The series 5 final peaked with 14.6 million viewers.^{[citation needed]} The series 6 final was watched by 19.1 million viewers (a 63.2% audience share)^[100] with 10 million votes cast^{[citation needed]} and the series 7 final topped this, attracting 19.4 million viewers with over 15 million votes cast,^[101] but the series 8 final was a large drop from this, with 13.456 million viewers.^[102] Series 10 ended with the live final bringing in average viewer figures of just 8.5 million – considerably down from previous years.

The BBC's rival talent show Strictly Come Dancing initially beat The X Factor in viewing figures in 2004, although The X Factor soon reversed this trend, and when the shows went head-to-head for the first time,^[when?] The X Factor attracted a larger audience share.^[103] It was the first format (along with Britain's Got Talent) in years to knock Coronation Street off the top.

Since 2011, however, ratings of The X Factor have been in sharp decline. It was overtaken in the rating battle by Strictly Come Dancing during series 8 and has since very rarely managed to beat it, with Strictly Come Dancing extending its lead over the show per year. In 2016, The X Factor was beaten head-to-head in some live shows by other BBC programmes, such as Michael McIntyre's Big Show and Planet Earth II. The ratings crisis has worsened in the following year with the show recording its lowest ever figures and Strictly Come Dancing now enjoying nearly three times the audience figures of The X Factor in most weeks.

At the 2005 British Comedy Awards, The X Factor beat Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway to take the award for Best Comedy Entertainment Programme, prompting Cowell to remark "We're not a comedy programme, we're a serious factual drama".^[104] In both 2005 and 2006, The X Factor won the award for "Most Popular Entertainment Programme" at the National Television Awards.^{[citation needed]} At the same awards in 2007, the show also won the award for "Most Popular Talent Show".^{[citation needed]} In 2008 it lost out to Strictly Come Dancing at the TV Quick Awards, TRIC Awards and National Television Awards,^{[clarification needed]} despite beating it in the ratings.^{[citation needed]} In 2010, The X Factor won "Best Talent Show" at the National Television Awards.^{[citation needed]}

The show won the Entertainment award at the 2010 Royal Television Society Awards, described as "Undeniably a brilliant, genre-defining piece of television; the team behind this show never rest on their laurels and are determined to continually raise the bar and set new standards. Must-see television, which everyone talks about on a Monday morning."^[105] At the 2011 National Television Awards, The X Factor won the Talent Show award, beating Strictly Come Dancing, Britain's Got Talent and Dancing on Ice.^[106] At the 2012 National Television Awards, The X Factor again beat Strictly Come Dancing, Britain's Got Talent and Dancing on Ice to the award. The show also won Best UK TV Show at the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards.^[107] At the 2015 National Television Awards, The X Factor won Best Talent Show for the first time in three years, beating Strictly Come Dancing, Britain's Got Talent and The Voice UK.^[108]

The viewing figures for the first seven years of the show featured an upwards trend (excluding the third series) until it peaked for its seventh series in 2010. However, since the eighth series, viewing figures have declined year on year, with the average audience figure for the ninth series being over 2 million lower than the previous year. Viewing figure information is provided by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB).

From the outset, The X Factor has attracted heavy criticism. Recurring allegations include: that the excessive commercialism of the show detracts from its supposed purpose of unearthing musical talent and even actively damages and distorts the UK music industry;^[110] that auditionees at mass auditions are shabbily treated; that controversy is deliberately courted and orchestrated, and supposedly spontaneous scenes are staged and scripted; that problems with phone lines leave members of the public unable to vote for their favourite acts; and that contestants are manipulated and unfairly edited.

This criticism became very public in 2009 when a Facebook campaign targeted against The X Factor and its effect on British music took "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine to the Christmas number one spot at the expense of the X Factor winner's single by Joe McElderry.^[111]

The X Factor usually has at least one "novelty" or "joke" act in the live shows,^[112] which help to boost ratings and add some fun into the live shows, although they tend to be controversial due to the show being primarily a singing competition.^[113] Judge Gary Barlow reportedly had an issue with joke acts when asked to mentor the Overs category in the ninth series, because "Gary doesn't like joke acts and the Overs category is often full of novelty acts."^[114] Despite controversially being part of the format, their non-involvement in the tenth series drew criticism: "The fact that the joke contestants made it through to the live shows used to be the most gloriously British part of The X Factor. We love an underdog... It was a vital part of the format."^[115]

Country	Channel	Premiere date
Australia	Fox8	2017
Brazil	Sony	2014
Canada	CHEK-DT, Yes TV,[116] Family Channel (29 July 2015)[117]
Denmark	DR3 (2014–2017), TV 2 Zulu (2018–)
Ireland	TV3
Malta	TVM
Poland	Fox Life
United States	AXS TV
Singapore	Mediacorp Channel 5
Southeast Asia	Blue Ant Entertainment (formerly RTL CBS Entertainment)
New Zealand	TV3	2015
	TVNZ 1	2017
Finland	Sub	2016
Turkey	TV8,5	2017
Jamaica	TVJ[118]	2018
Spain	TEN[119]	2017

The Xtra Factor (known as The Xtra Factor Live in 2016) was a behind-the-scenes companion show that was broadcast on ITV2 in the UK and on TV3 in Ireland, usually on Saturday and Sunday nights after the main show, this aired from 4 September 2004 to 11 December 2016. On 18 January 2017, it was announced that The Xtra Factor would be axed after 13 years and would be replaced by an online show instead.^[120]

The X Factor: Battle of the Stars was a celebrity special edition of The X Factor, which screened on ITV, starting on 29 May 2006 and lasting for eight consecutive nights. Pop Idol was intended to be broadcast in its place as Celebrity Pop Idol but was stopped shortly before transmission, when ITV selected The X Factor instead.

Nine celebrity acts participated, singing live in front of the nation and facing the judges of the previous The X Factor series: Cowell, Osbourne and Walsh. Voting revenues were donated to the celebrities' chosen charities. The contestants were Michelle Marsh, Nikki Sanderson, Matt Stevens, Lucy Benjamin, Gillian McKeith, Chris Moyles, Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee, James Hewitt and Rebecca Loos, and "The Chefs", a quartet of celebrity chefs comprising Jean-Christophe Novelli, Aldo Zilli, Paul Rankin and Ross Burden. The winner of the show was Lucy Benjamin, mentored by Walsh.^[121]

Xtra Bites is the second companion and spin-off show to The X Factor which replaced The Xtra Factor, although Xtra Bites is an online spin-off show which started airing in 2017. The show looks at all the action from the show including behind the scenes footage of the judges and interviews with contestants from the show. It is uploaded onto ITV Hub, the show's YouTube channel, and the X Factor page on the Just Eat’s website. There were 13 episodes uploaded altogether for the first series, all presented by Becca Dudley.^[122][123] On 23 August 2018, it was announced that Xtra Bites would return for another series after a successful first series, with new presenters Dudley and Tinea Taylor.^[124] Vick Hope took over as host for the celebrity series in 2019.^[125]

A second edition of Battle of the Stars was confirmed in the latter half of 2019 as The X Factor: Celebrity and began in October 2019. The show was won by Megan McKenna, with Max and Harvey finishing as runners-up.^[126]

In November 2019, Cowell announced that The X Factor: The Band would launch on 9 December 2019, with the premise of finding either the biggest male or female group. Each episode lasted for 90 minutes.^[127] The show was won by Real Like You, a girl group composed of Jess Folley, Virginia Hampson, Luena Martinèz, Seorsia Jack, Halle Williams and Kellimarie Willis.^[128]

As of June 2015, the show has spawned a total of 35 number-one singles: 10 winners' singles (six of which have been the Christmas number one), four charity singles (one each by the finalists of series 5, 6, 7 and 8), and 21 other number-ones by contestants who have appeared on the show (including winners and runners-up).

By series 6 in 2009, it had seemingly become such a certainty that the X Factor winner would gain the Christmas number one slot every year that bookmakers William Hill were considering withdrawing from the 30-year tradition of betting on the outcome.^[129] However, hostility to the show's stranglehold on the Christmas number one slot from some quarters had prompted attempts to propel an alternative song to the 2008 Christmas number one spot, and in 2009 a similar internet-led campaign was successful, taking Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" to Christmas number one at the expense of The X Factor winner Joe McElderry.^[130] McElderry's single climbed to the top of the chart a week later.

In series 1–2, the winner's debut album would be released a few months after their victory in the show. The album would contain some new material but would consist largely of cover versions. This format changed with series 3 winner Leona Lewis. Cowell, Lewis's X Factor mentor and newly appointed manager, said: "We could have gone into the studio for a month, made the record quick, and thrown it out. It would have been the wrong thing to do."^[131] The success of Lewis's debut album Spirit ensured that the debut albums of future series winners (such as series 4 winner Leon Jackson) would consist more of new material than of cover versions. Series 10 winner Sam Bailey, however, released her debut album of covers, The Power of Love, in March 2014, just three months after winning – the earliest ever debut album release by an X Factor winner.

During the fifth series of the show, the finalists released a cover of Mariah Carey's "Hero" in aid of Help for Heroes which reached number one in the UK singles charts. Following the success of the song, Cowell announced that a charity single would be released annually (though the process was discontinued in series 9). He is quoted as saying: "Following last year's record we made with the X Factor finalists in aid of Help for Heroes, we decided we wanted to do something annually on the show to help good causes."^[132]

The 2009 finalists released a cover of Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" which was released in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital^[132] and reached number one.^[133]

The 2010 finalists released a cover of David Bowie's ""Heroes"", with proceeds once again going to the Help for Heroes charity.^[134]

In 2011, the finalists released Rose Royce's "Wishing on a Star" and the proceeds were donated to Together for Short Lives.^[135] This song features previous contestants JLS and One Direction.^[136] In 2012, it was announced that the winner's single would also be the charity single.^[137]

The charity single was scrapped after series 8, although the winner's singles from series 9 onwards were all released for charity.

In celebration of the show's 10th series, The X Factor – The Greatest Hits was released on 25 November 2013. The album features 34 songs from 21 of the show's finalists.^{[142][143][144]}

The X Factor Songbook is a 60-song compilation album released 24 November 2014.^[146]

DVDs

• Series 1: The X Factor Revealed: The Greatest Auditions Ever (2005)
• Series 2: The X Factor: The Greatest Auditions Ever (2006)
• Series 3: The X Factor Revealed (2007)

Games

• Series 4: The X Factor – interactive DVD game (2007)
• Series 4: The X Factor Sing – karaoke console game (2007)
• Series 5: The X Factor: The Board Game (2009)
• Series 5: Top Trumps X Factor – card game (2008)
• Series 7: The X Factor – karaoke console game (2010)^{[citation needed]}

Books

• Series 1–3: The X Factor: Access All Areas (2007)
• Series 6: The X Factor Annual (2009)^[147]
• Series 7: The X Factor Annual (2010)
• Series 7: The Xtra Factor Annual (2010)^[148]
• Series 8: The X Factor Annual (2011)

Magazines

• X Magazine – weekly publication to accompany the seventh series in 2010.^[149]

Other

The X Factor brand has also appeared on clothing, jewellery,^[150] perfume, make-up, toiletries,^[151] bedding, gifts, confectionery,^[152] soft drinks^[153] and pizzas.^[154]

• The X Factor at itv.com
• The X Factor at stv.tv
• The X Factor at IMDb