The X Factor (British TV series) series 13

Series 13 judges

Simon Cowell

Nicole Scherzinger

Sharon Osbourne

Louis Walsh

On 18 February 2016, series 12 judge Nick Grimshaw announced that he would not come back for another series on the judging panel.^[2] On 5 April 2016, it was confirmed that Cheryl would not return as a judge.^[3] Rita Ora confirmed she was leaving the judging panel on 10 May 2016.^[4] On the same day, it was reported that former judges Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh may return to join Simon Cowell on the judging panel to collectively replace Ora, Cheryl and Grimshaw.^[5] Walsh confirmed he had signed a contract on 15 May 2016.^[6] The judging line-up was officially confirmed as Cowell, Walsh, Osbourne and Scherzinger on 1 June 2016.^[7]

On 22 February 2016, during an interview with The Sun, Olly Murs, who had co-hosted the previous series with Caroline Flack, confirmed his decision to quit the series 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."^[8] 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."^[9] On 29 March 2016, it was confirmed that Dermot O'Leary would return to present The X Factor on ITV for the ninth time, after having quit the previous year, and said he was "very flattered to be asked back". For series 12, O'Leary was replaced by Murs and Flack, but the viewing numbers fell and O'Leary was asked back. Richard Holloway, boss of Thames, said he was "a much-loved part of The X Factor and one of the best presenters in the business", while Kevin Lygo, ITV's Director of TV, said he was "an important part of the ITV family".^[10][11] On 27 June 2016, it was confirmed that Matt Edmondson will be the new host of The Xtra Factor replacing Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom.^[12] On 1 July 2016, it was confirmed that Rylan Clark-Neal will co-host alongside Edmondson,^[13] and that Capital FM DJ Roman Kemp would be a digital presenter and social media reporter.^[14] Mel B joined the panel for one day of London auditions in lieu of Scherzinger.^[15] Osbourne was absent in the Edinburgh auditions and was not replaced by a guest judge.

The minimum age to audition this year was 16. Contestants needed three or more 'yeses' from the four judges to progress to Bootcamp.^[16]

In addition to the producers' auditions, the "Mobile Audition Tour" took place throughout the UK and Ireland. Auditions ran between 7 March and 30 April 2016, and visited Skegness, Sheffield, Aberdeen, Peterborough, Telford, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Sunderland, Nottingham, Middlesbrough, Leicester, Coventry, Ipswich, Scarborough, Chelmsford, Northampton, Southend-on-Sea, Hull, Milton Keynes, Essex, York, Isle of Man, Swindon, Portsmouth, Bognor Regis, Bristol, Blackpool, Preston, Weston-Super-Mare, Brighton, Newquay, Wigan, Truro, Hastings, Exeter, Margate, Yeovil and Maidstone.^{[17][unreliable source?]}

Producers auditions commenced on 7 April in Glasgow and ended on 14 May in Liverpool.^{[18][unreliable source?]}

Manchester

London

Edinburgh

Leicester

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Cities in the United Kingdom where the judges' auditions were held.

Dublin

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Cities in Ireland where the judges' auditions were held.

Originally, the format for auditions was announced to return to that of series 10 and 11, with both room auditions and consequent arena auditions before bootcamp.^[19] However, the arena auditions were scrapped at the end of June, towards the end of the filming of the room auditions.^[20] The auditions started on 10 June in Leicester^[21] and continued in Manchester on 13 June.^[22] The next auditions took place on 17 June in London where Mel B was a guest judge in place of Scherzinger, while Scherzinger had other commitments.^[23] Contestant Philip Hadlow did not progress to Bootcamp, but judged one audition in Walsh's place.^{[citation needed]} Subsequent auditions were held in London on 19 June, with Scherzinger returning,^[24] before moving to Edinburgh on 23 June^[25] and Dublin on 1 July.^[26] Selected auditions were broadcast over seven episodes, between 27 August and 17 September 2016.

Notable auditionees this series included Rebekah Ryan, who had UK chart success in the 1990s as an independent artist and previously auditioned in series 4, reaching bootcamp,^{[citation needed]} Saara Aalto, who was the runner-up on series 1 of The Voice of Finland,^[27] and actor Will Rush.^[28]

Bootcamp took place at Alexandra Palace from 6 to 8 July 2016.^[29][30] It was broadcast in a single episode on 18 September 2016. The contestants all chose a song from a wall with sheets of paper attached. Each song appeared three times and the three acts who picked the same song would perform that song as a group. Immediately after each performance, the judges would either put the acts through or eliminate them immediately. 121 acts were successful in this part, and the judges then deliberated to cut the number of contestants down further, to decide who would reach the six-chair challenge.^[31] At the end of Bootcamp, the judges discovered which categories they would mentor: Cowell was given the Girls, Scherzinger was given the Boys, Osbourne was given the Over 25s and Walsh was given the Groups.^[32]

The six-chair challenge took place from 9 to 12 July, at The SSE Arena, Wembley.^[33] It was broadcast over two episodes on 24 and 25 September.^{[34][35][36][37]} Scherzinger and Cowell chose their final six acts during Saturday's show, while Osbourne and Walsh picked their acts during Sunday's show.^{[38][39][40][41]}

Filming for judges' houses took place in late August and early/mid September. The locations and guest judges were officially confirmed on 21 September 2016. Walsh was assisted in Ibiza by Fleur East and Alesha Dixon, Cowell went to Malibu with Mel B and Emma Bunton, Osbourne went to her Los Angeles home where she was joined by Robbie Williams, and Scherzinger went to Nice with Calvin Harris.^[42] Ivy Grace Paredes, who was originally selected as one of Osbourne's over-25s at the six-chair challenge, withdrew from the competition because her visa would not be issued in time,^[43] and she was replaced by Honey G.^[44] Four more acts were chosen as wildcards to go to judges' houses. Walsh chose Samantha Lavery for Cowell, Cowell chose Ryan Lawrie for Scherzinger, Scherzinger chose Saara Aalto for Osbourne and Osbourne chose Yes Lad for Walsh.^{[45][unreliable source?]}

The judges houses episodes were broadcast on 1 and 2 October 2016.

Judges Houses Performances

Boys:

• Matt: "She's Out of My Life"
• James H: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"
• Freddy: "Love Me Like You Do"
• Niall: "2 Become 1"
• Ryan: "You Make My Dreams"
• Christian: "How to Save a Life"
• Nate: "Summertime"

Girls:

• Emily: "Ex's and Oh's"
• Samantha L: "Make It Rain"
• Gifty: "This Girl"
• Kayleigh: "Who You Are"
• Caitlyn: "Praying for Time"
• Sohelia: "Genie in a Bottle"
• Olivia: "Sometimes"

Groups:

• 5AM: "She's Got That Vibe"
• Tom & Laura: "Up Where We Belong"
• Bradley & Ottavio: "Candyman"
• Yes Lad: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"
• Four of Diamonds: "Royals" (wildcard)
• The Brooks: "Just a Dream"
• Skarl3t: "Hey Ya!"

Over 25s

• Saara: "The Winner Takes It All"
• Honey G: "Gangsta's Paradise"
• Relley C: "Up to the Mountain"
• Peyton: "Movin' On Up"
• Samantha A: "Tears"
• James W: "Make You Feel My Love"
• Janet: "Ordinary World"

Key:

  – Winner

  – Runner-Up

  – Withdrew

The live shows began on 8 October 2016, with the performance shows taking place on Saturday night and the results show airing on Sunday night. On 1 October, it was revealed that all the groups would undergo name changes. The new names were revealed as Bratavio (Bradley & Ottavio), Brooks Way (The Brooks) and 5 After Midnight (5AM).^[46] The live shows were all filmed at Fountain Studios in London, apart from the live final and final results show, which were filmed at Wembley Arena. This was the last series to be filmed at Fountain Studios, and the semi-final results show and the following episode of The Xtra Factor were the last programmes to be recorded in the studios before its demolition.^[47][48]

New for this series, the first five results shows revealed the acts in the bottom three of the votes, and there was then a second round of 'flash votes' which lasted approximately four minutes, with voting only available via the official The X Factor mobile app. The act who topped this vote avoided the sing-off.^[49] Also new, the theme for each week, excluding week 1, is randomly selected via a "jukebox wheel" at the end of the previous week's show, which is spun by O'Leary (apart from week 6, when it was spun by Ant & Dec, during a live link-up from Australia).^{[citation needed]} Themes include "Disco", "Movies", "Fright Night", "80s", "Divas", "Motown", "Girlband vs Boyband" and "Louis loves"—named after Louis Walsh.^[50] During the sixth live show, it was revealed that viewers would have a chance to suggest a theme for the jukebox.^[51] During the seventh live results show, the new theme was revealed as "Christmas".^[52]

On 10 October 2016, Brooks Way confirmed that they would not be taking part in the show after being absent from the first live show. In a statement released by the official website to confirm their exit, Josh Brooks said, "Due to events in my personal life I've decided that it's best not to be on the show at this time. While not everything that has been claimed is true I would like to apologise to everyone involved."^[53] A spokesperson for the show added, "Following the allegations relating to Josh Brooks, we have decided by mutual consent that Brooks Way should leave the competition."^[53] The same day, it was confirmed that Four of Diamonds, who previously made Judges' Houses, would be replacing Brooks Way. Speaking of their second chance in the competition, the girls said that they "are so excited to be back" and "looking forward to performing live, working hard and showing everyone what they are made of". Speaking about why he brought the girl group back, groups mentor Walsh stated that he was "impressed with the girls" but only had "three spots in the live shows". At the time of the episode airing, many viewers were disappointed that they were not chosen and he stated that he'd "listened to the fans" and was "delighted to be bringing the girls back."^[54]

Each results show features guest performances, with some guests performing during the main performance show. Performers included 2012 The X Factor winner James Arthur on the first results show,^[55] the cast of Motown: The Musical on the second live show,^[56] OneRepublic and 2011 winners Little Mix on the second results show,^[57] Busted, Shawn Mendes and John Legend on the third live results show,^[58] 2015 winner Louisa Johnson and Bruno Mars on the fourth live results show,^[59] Emeli Sandé and Robbie Williams on the fifth live results show,^[60] Sister Sledge on the sixth live show,^[61] 2009 runner up Olly Murs and Nathan Sykes on the sixth live results show,^[62] the cast of School of Rock,^[63] Craig David and Alicia Keys on the seventh live results show,^[64] and Busted^[65] Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie^[66] on the eighth live results show, Zara Larsson^[67] and Lady Gaga^[68] on the semi-final live results show, The Weeknd,^[69] Louis Tomlinson featuring Steve Aoki and Honey G in the first final performances show, and Kylie Minogue,^[70] Madness and Little Mix featuring Charlie Puth^[71] in the final results show.

Colour key

Act in Boys

Act in Girls

Act in Over 25s

Act in Groups

• ^1 Brooks Way were ejected from performing in week 1 and withdrew before week 2.
• ^2 Four of Diamonds were originally eliminated at the Judges Houses stage but returned for the live shows after week 1 to replace Brooks Way who withdrew.
• ^3 The voting percentages in the Final for the Sunday Vote do not add up to 100%, owing to the freezing of votes. 5 After Midnight received 11.1% of the final vote.^[72]

• Theme: "Express yourself" (songs to showcase who they are)^[50]
• Group performance: "Sax"^[78]
• Musical guest: James Arthur ("Say You Won't Let Go")^[79]

It was announced at the beginning of Saturday's live show that Brooks Way would not be performing. A spokesperson for the show said: "Due to circumstances that have arisen, Brooks Way will not be appearing on tonight's show."^[80]

^1 Brooks Way were suspended from performing on only the first week. They withdrew the day after the first result show. They were due to perform "Cake by the Ocean". Brooks Way were then later replaced by Four of Diamonds.

Judges' votes to eliminate^[73]

• Walsh: Saara Aalto – backed his own act, Bratavio.
• Osbourne: Bratavio – effectively backed her own act, Saara Aalto.
• Scherzinger: Bratavio – based on the sing-off performances.
• Cowell: Bratavio – based on the sing-off performances.

• Theme: "Motown"^[56]
• Musical guests:
  • Saturday: Cast of Motown: The Musical ("Dancing in the Street")^[56]
  • Sunday: OneRepublic ("Kids") and Little Mix ("Shout Out to My Ex")^[58]
• Best bits song: "Let Her Go"

On 10 October 2016, Brooks Way confirmed that they would no longer be taking part in the show after being absent from the first live show.^[53] It was later confirmed that Four of Diamonds, who were eliminated at Judges' Houses, would replace them.^[54]

Judges' votes to eliminate^[57]

• Scherzinger: Saara Aalto – gave no reason but effectively backed her own act, Freddy Parker.
• Osbourne: Freddy Parker – backed her own act, Saara Aalto.
• Walsh: Freddy Parker – gave no reason.
• Cowell: Saara Aalto – said the decision was harder than last week and chose to go with his gut.

With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Freddy Parker was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.^[57]

• Theme: "Divas"^[82]
• Guest mentor: John Legend^[83]
• Group performance: "Year 3000" (with Busted)^[84]
• Musical guests:
  • Saturday: Nicole Scherzinger ("I'm Every Woman"/"Respect")^[85]
  • Sunday: Busted ("Year 3000"; with finalists),^[84] Shawn Mendes ("Mercy") and John Legend ("Love Me Now")^[58]

Judges' votes to eliminate^[74]

• Walsh: Relley C – backed his own act, Four of Diamonds, who he said had more potential.
• Osbourne: Four of Diamonds – gave no reason but effectively backed her own act, Relley C.
• Scherzinger: Relley C – based on the sing-off performances.
• Cowell: Relley C – said that Four of Diamonds had more potential.

However, voting statistics revealed that Relley C received more votes than Four of Diamonds which meant that if Cowell sent the result to deadlock, Relley C would have been saved.

• Theme: Fright Night^[86]
• Group performance: "Cake by the Ocean"^[59]
• Musical guests: Louisa Johnson ("So Good") and Bruno Mars ("24K Magic")^[59]

Judges' votes to eliminate^[59]

• Cowell: Four of Diamonds – gave no reason but effectively backed his own act, Gifty Louise. However, he did initially say Louise's name in response, before backtracking.
• Walsh: Gifty Louise – backed his own act, Four of Diamonds, who he said had more potential.
• Scherzinger: Gifty Louise – gave no reason.
• Osbourne: Gifty Louise – gave no reason.

However, voting statistics revealed that Louise received more votes than Four of Diamonds which meant that if Osbourne sent the result to deadlock, Louise would have been saved.

• Theme: "Girlband vs Boyband"^[87]
• Group performance: "Keep on Movin'"^[60]
• Musical guests: Emeli Sandé ("Breathing Underwater") and Robbie Williams ("Love My Life")^[60]

During the fifth live results show, O'Leary confirmed that the final 8 would be part of The X Factor UK Live Tour 2017.^[88]

Judges' votes to eliminate^[75]

• Walsh: Saara Aalto – gave no reason but effectively backed his own act, Four of Diamonds.
• Osbourne: Four of Diamonds – gave no reason but effectively backed her own act, Saara Aalto.
• Scherzinger: Four of Diamonds – based on the sing-off performances.
• Cowell: Four of Diamonds – said he thought Four of Diamonds would be safe based on their first performance but concluded that Aalto was more likely to consistently improve following a bad week.

However, voting statistics revealed that Aalto and Four of Diamonds received more votes than Lavery which meant that if Aalto won the lifeline vote, Lavery would have faced Four of Diamonds in the final showdown and in that scenario, if the result went to deadlock, Lavery would have been eliminated. In addition, if Four of Diamonds won the lifeline vote, Lavery would have faced Aalto in the final showdown and in that scenario, if the result went to deadlock, Lavery would have been eliminated.

• Theme: "Disco"^[89]
• Group performance: "Rise Up"^[90]
• Musical guests:
  • Saturday: Sister Sledge ("We Are Family")^{[61][non-primary source needed]}
  • Sunday: Nathan Sykes ("Famous") and Olly Murs ("Grow Up")^[62]

It was revealed during the sixth live show that the lifeline vote would not return for the remainder of the series.^[91]

Judges' votes to eliminate^[76]

• Cowell: Ryan Lawrie – gave no reason, but effectively backed his own act, Sam Lavery.
• Scherzinger: Sam Lavery – gave no reason, but effectively backed her own act, Ryan Lawrie.
• Walsh: Ryan Lawrie – stated that Lavery was who he picked as Cowell's wildcard.
• Osbourne: Sam Lavery – could not decide so chose to take the vote to deadlock; although while deliberating, she appeared as though she was going to vote against Lawrie due to him being in the bottom three three times prior; but she eventually said Lavery's name, indicating she was voting to eliminate Lavery.

With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Sam Lavery was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.^[76]

• Theme: "Movies" (songs from films)^[93]
• Musical guests: Cast of School of Rock ("Teacher's Pet"),^[63] Craig David ("Change My Love") and Alicia Keys ("Blended Family (What You Do for Love)")^[64]

Judges' votes to eliminate^[77]

• Cowell: Ryan Lawrie – despite Lawrie being his wildcard choice for Scherzinger, he felt that Honey G wanted to stay in the competition more. He did however say that he thought it should go to deadlock.
• Osbourne: Ryan Lawrie – backed her own act, Honey G.
• Scherzinger: Honey G – backed her own act, Ryan Lawrie.
• Walsh: Ryan Lawrie – gave no reason.

However, voting statistics revealed that Lawrie received more votes than Honey G which meant that if Cowell sent the result to deadlock, Lawrie would have advanced to the quarter-final and Honey G would have been eliminated.

• Theme: "Louis Loves" (songs chosen by Walsh); acts' own choice (no theme)^[94]
• Group performance: "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
• Musical guests: Busted ("On What You're On")^[65] and Clean Bandit featuring Anne-Marie and Sean Paul ("Rockabye")^[66]

For the first time this series, the acts performed two songs.^[94]

Judges' votes to eliminate

• Walsh: Honey G – backed his own act, 5 After Midnight, saying they were better than Honey G.
• Osbourne: 5 After Midnight – gave no reason but effectively backed her own act, Honey G.
• Scherzinger: Honey G – gave no reason.
• Cowell: Honey G – said that he had to do what the public would expect, and that Honey G had gone as far as she could in the competition; and although he expected 5 After Midnight to be in the sing-off, he believed that they would continue to improve in the competition.

• Theme: "Christmas"; "Get Me to the Final"^[95]
• Group performance: "Do They Know It's Christmas? (2014)"
• Musical guests: Zara Larsson ("I Would Like"/"Lush Life")^[67] and Lady Gaga ("Million Reasons")^[68]

Judges' votes to send through to the final

• Cowell: Emily Middlemas – gave no reason but effectively backed his own act, Emily Middlemas.
• Scherzinger: Matt Terry – gave no reason but effectively backed her own act, Matt Terry.
• Walsh: Matt Terry – gave no reason.
• Osbourne: Matt Terry – gave no reason.

10 December

• Themes: New song (no theme); celebrity duets^[96]
• Group performance: "Final Night"/"Shout Out to My Ex"/"Cake by the Ocean"/"Can't Stop the Feeling!" (all finalists except Brooks Way, and Beck Martin, who reached bootcamp singing his own song, "Friday Night")
• Musical guests: Louis Tomlinson and Steve Aoki ("Just Hold On"),^{[citation needed]} Honey G ("Men in Black"/"Ice Ice Baby"/"Jump"/"The Honey G Show") and The Weeknd ("Can't Feel My Face"/"Starboy")^[69]

5 After Midnight received the fewest public votes and was automatically eliminated.

11 December

• Themes: Song of the series; no theme^[97]
• Group performance: "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)" (Final 2 with Kylie Minogue)
• Musical guests: Kylie Minogue with Final 2 ("Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)"),^[70] Madness ("Mr Apples"/"Our House"/"It Must Be Love"),^[98] auditionees ("Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now") and Little Mix featuring Charlie Puth ("Oops"/"Touch")^[71]

Following the announcement that Terry had won, he performed his winner's single, "When Christmas Comes Around".

On 4 December 2016, it was announced that all VAT from the winner's single would be donated to charity, meaning that the charities Together for Short Lives and Shooting Star Chase would receive 100% of all profits from sales of the single. It is the sixth year running that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has waived VAT on The X Factor's winner's single.^[99]

¹ Includes advert breaks

² The ratings over a 7-day period, including the broadcasts on ITV, ITV HD, ITV+1 and streaming through ITV Hub.

³ The rank for the combined ITV, ITV HD and ITV+1 broadcasts, compared with all channels for that week, from Monday to Sunday.

Just hours before the first live show, duo Brooks Way, consisting of twin brothers Kyle and Josh Brooks, were suspended from the competition, over allegations that Josh had been violent with his ex-girlfriend Amelia Clark, allegedly breaking her nose and kicking her in the face during a New Year Eve party earlier in the year. It was reported throughout the weekend that Josh was regularly beating up Kyle. Kyle and Amelia came to Josh's defence, saying respectively that the allegations were false and that they were written by a friend and fan who chose to exploit from the show. During the broadcast, presenter Dermot O'Leary acknowledged the brothers' absence stating that it was due to "circumstances that have arisen".

The following Monday, the duo released a statement saying that they were withdrawing from the competition, from "mutual consent" with the producers, whilst denying the "false allegations" and saying that "truth always wins".^[102]They were replaced by girl group, Four of Diamonds later that week.^[103]

The X Factor were forced to deny that the competition was fixed when nightclub Kittys & Kandy, in Kirkcaldy, posted on Facebook that Honey G would be performing there on 10 December 2016, the same night as the show's final. The post was deleted and the venue said they had secured the date in case Honey G was eliminated before that date, but a spokesperson for The X Factor said, "This story is not true and there is no foundation to any fix claims. The club was mistaken in their post that she would be there on 10 December and the post has since been removed."^[104]

Several viewers suspected that the jukebox wheel was rigged after it selected "Fright Night" for the theme for week 4, two days before Halloween.^[105] O'Leary insisted the wheel was not rigged, calling it "the most rudimentary hamster wheel you've ever seen in your life".^[106] Scherzinger also said she thought it was not fixed because, "I can't pick my songs until we know what theme we're doing—and the producers aren't picking anything as well."^[107] Contestant Middlemas said of the wheel: "It's not computerised, it's an old-fashioned wheel. We can see it at the side and there's no-one else around apart from Dermot [O'Leary] pulling the wheel. We do it at rehearsals and it lands on something different each time. All of the producers knew people would say it was fixed. But we know how it works."^[108]

At the start of the third live show, O'Leary announced that the voting lines were open for all contestants before they had performed, instead of after they performed as it had been in the first two live shows. Isobel Mohan from The Daily Telegraph claimed this was unfair and gave an advantage to those performing first and turned it into a popularity contest instead of a talent show.^[82]

During the fifth results show, many viewers claimed that they were unable to vote via the mobile app. This also led to claims of a fix.^[109]

Ofcom received five complaints from viewers after Gifty Louise was heard swearing when she said, "I fucking told you" during the third live results show, when Sam Lavery was announced as the first act through to the following week. O'Leary issued an apology after the results. Ofcom confirmed that they were assessing the complaints before deciding whether to investigate.^[110]

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