The X Factor series 10 kicks off... and the contestants are crazier than ever

The X Factor returns for a tenth series on Saturday evening, and as we’ve come to expect from previous shows the opening episode will be filled with the usual assortment of talented, talentless and frankly comical.
With the audition process reverting to its original accapella format, hopefuls will be performing in a more intimate, but no less intimidating environment for judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger and the returning Sharon Osbourne.

This time round it’s the prerequisite three yes’s that see them through to a further audition in front of a live and often merciless audience.

Elsewhere there are laughs when Brian May lookalike Fil Henley, a 30-year-old guitar teacher who still lives with his parents, makes an appearance with a round of sandwiches prepared by his mother.

Following a unique performance of Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You he gets an appraisal from Sharon, who describes his eighties mullet as ‘business at the front, party at the back.’

Original judge Sharon Osbourne’s return to the show follows a decline in ratings over the last two series,’ but the 60-year-old insists there is no pressure.

 

‘You know it’s not my thing… the ratings… I don’t care,’ she said at the press launch in London on Thursday. ‘It’s whether the show is good and the show is great! And that’s what it’s all about.’

The X Factor returns on Saturday September 31 on ITV1 at 8:00pm.