Sam Bailey has said she “feels sorry” for last year’s X Factor victor Ben Haenow.
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The network confirmed that the 12th series of the show – which will introduce new judges Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw to the viewing masses – will kick off on Saturday August 29, just a week and a half from now. The first episode will run for a bumper 90 minutes – though you can be guaranteed that a LOT of that will be filled with ad breaks – and uber fans will be delighted to hear that the fun continues on Sunday at the same time.
It’s not just the judging panel that’s been given a shake-up this year, and viewers will notice a number of changes.
Sister series Xtra Factor is being presented by Saturdays singer Rochelle Humes with Kiss FM DJ Melvin Odoom.
The newbies are joined by veteran judges Simon Cowell and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini for the new series while Caroline Flack and Olly Murs are taking over from Dermot O’Leary.
After a fleeting return, the room auditions have been axed again, in favour of a single, arena audition format.
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The third round will be the six-chair challenge, where people are swapped in and out by the judges. Paloma Faith has been mooted as a possible name to help out Grimmy, in move made by Simon to stop her signing up for “The Voice”.
