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The fifteenth and final series of the British television music competition The X Factor began airing on ITV on 1 September 2018, presented by Dermot O'Leary. Simon Cowell returned alongside new judges Louis Tomlinson, Ayda Field (credited as Ayda Williams), and Robbie Williams who replace departing judges Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne, and Louis Walsh. Nile Rodgers filled in for Williams while he was away on his tour for weeks 3–5 of the live shows.
On 2 December, Jamaican-born singer Dalton Harris won the series making him the first and only foreign contender to win the UK show.[1] [2] This was the only series that featured Tomlinson, Field, and Williams as judges.
After this series, the show was put on a 'break' and in 2019 the show got replaced by a Celebrity spin-off and a Band spin-off.
In 2020, it was announced that the show was still on a 'break'.
In July 2021, it was confirmed that the show has been officially cancelled after 17 years.
On 6 June 2018, it was announced that Sharon Osbourne would return to judge the fifteenth series, but only for the live shows, due to her ongoing work commitments in the United States. The next day, long-serving judge Louis Walsh announced that after thirteen years on the show, he would leave to focus on other projects.[3] Earlier in the year, it was reported that Nicole Scherzinger would not return as a judge for the fifteenth series.[4]
On 30 September 2018, Osbourne announced her decision to no longer appear as a judge during the live shows, stating that she had "seen the new judges finding their rhythm and are doing brilliantly".[5]
Simon Cowell confirmed his return as head judge and Dermot O'Leary’s return as presenter. After much speculation, it was announced on 16 July 2018 that Ayda Field (credited as Ayda Williams), Robbie Williams and Louis Tomlinson would join Cowell on the series' judging panel to replace Osbourne, Walsh, and Scherzinger respectively.[6]
On 23 August 2018, it was announced that Xtra Bites would return after a first series, presented by Becca Dudley again, and she would be joined by a co-host named Tinea Taylor.[7]
On 2 November 2018, it was revealed that Nile Rodgers would fill in for Williams on the panel during some of the live shows, due to Williams' touring commitments. Rodgers sat alongside Williams on 3 November, before fully substituting for him on 4, 10, 11 & 17 November. In a statement, Rodgers stated: "I had such a great time with Louis at the Judge's House in Ibiza a couple of weeks ago that when the opportunity came to step in for Robbie I could not say ('no')", "From Chic and Sister Sledge to Duran Duran and Daft Punk, I've had great experiences with Groups in my career, so I look forward to giving them as much support as I can while Rob is away!". Williams returned to the panel on 24 November.[8]
Auditions for performers took place only at London's SSE Arena, Wembley, on 18–20, 22–24 and 26–28 July 2018.
Instead of the traditional bootcamp stages, a deliberation stage (similar to that employed by Britain's Got Talent) was introduced to cut down the number of performers at the six-chair challenge. This took place on 30 July 2018 at the Tobacco Dock in London. It was broadcast on a single episode on 23 September 2018 after the final auditions show.
After the "deliberation" and "reveal" stages, but before the start of the "six-chair challenge", the judges found out the categories they are mentoring: Cowell mentored the "Girls", Field mentored the "Over 29s", Williams mentored the "Groups", and Tomlinson mentored the "Boys".[9]
The Six Chair Challenge took place over the course of three days, from 1–3 August 2018, at the SSE Arena in Wembley. A new twist was added with the introduction of a golden button, similar to Got Talents Golden Buzzer. When this was pressed, the act in question was guaranteed a 'Safe Seat', and would go straight through to Judges' Houses. The Six Chair Challenge was aired over 3 episodes starting on 29 September 2018 and finished on 6 October 2018.[10]
It was announced by O'Leary during an appearance on This Morning that the Judges' Houses would be filmed in late September 2018, and that three of the judges' houses would be in Los Angeles (Cowell, Field and Williams); Tomlinson's houses would be hosted in Ibiza. Cowell judged from Malibu, while Field and Williams each judged their categories separately from their home in Beverly Hills. The guest judges were announced to be including American Idol alumnus Adam Lambert and Series 3 winner Leona Lewis in assisting Field, David Walliams with Williams, and Cowell's American Idol colleagues Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest along with Diane Warren, Babyface, Lewis and Sinitta to assist Cowell, who hosted a house party consisting of various singers, songwriters and record producers for the Girls to perform in front of. Tomlinson was assisted by his One Direction bandmate Liam Payne and Nile Rodgers.[11]
Maria Laroco was not able to secure the correct visa in time to travel to Malibu with the remaining Girls for this stage of the competition. Unlike similar instances where the affected contestants withdrew from the competition, Laroco sang to Cowell via video link from a London studio. 16 contestants were put through to the live shows at this stage, four from each category. This last-minute change was lobbied by Cowell who was unable to narrow his Girls down to just three; the other judges were then allowed one more act each for their own categories as well.
| Cowell | Girls | Malibu | Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, Diane Warren, Babyface, Michelle Visage, Adam Lambert, Leona Lewis, Sinitta, Paul Anka, Tricky Stewart and Dallas Austin | Georgia Burgess, Maria Laroco | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field | Over 29s | Beverly Hills | Adam Lambert and Leona Lewis | Ricky John, Louise Setara | |
| Tomlinson | Boys | Ibiza | Liam Payne and Nile Rodgers | J-Sol, Thomas Pound | |
| Williams | Groups | Beverly Hills | David Walliams | Panda and Burgandy, Sweet Sense |
Key:
– Winner
– Runner-Up
– Golden Buzzer/Safe Seat (Six-Chair Challenge)
| Act | Age(s) | Hometown | Category (mentor) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton Harris | 24 | Clarendon, Jamaica | Boys (Tomlinson) | Winner | |
| Scarlett Lee | 21 | Surrey | Girls (Cowell) | Runner-Up | |
| Anthony Russell | 28 | Bootle | Boys (Tomlinson) | 3rd Place | |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 15 & 14 | Leyland | Groups (Williams) | 4th Place | |
| 21 | Tuam, Republic of Ireland | Boys (Tomlinson) | 5th Place | ||
| Danny Tetley | 36 | Wigan | Over 29s (Field) | 6th Place | |
| Shan Ako | 25 | Croydon | Girls (Cowell) | 7th Place | |
| Bella Penifold | 19 | Essex | 8th Place | ||
| Giovanni Spano | 33 | West London | Over 29s (Field) | 9th Place | |
| Misunderstood | 25 & 27 | London | Groups (Williams) | 10th Place | |
| Molly Scott | 16 | County Durham | Girls (Cowell) | 11th Place | |
| United Vibe | 17–20 | Various | Groups (Williams) | 12th Place | |
| LMA Choir | 19–40 | Liverpool | 13th Place | ||
| Janice Robinson | 50 | Galveston, Texas, United States | Over 29s (Field) | 14th Place | |
| Armstrong Martins | 23 | Lagos, Nigeria/London | Boys (Tomlinson) | 15th Place | |
| Olatunji Yearwood | 32 | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | Over 29s (Field) | 16th Place |
The contestants were announced after each category performed at Judges' Houses. There were 16 contestants (4 from each category) this year. The Live Shows were broadcast for 7 weeks from 20 October to 2 December.[12] [13] This year the live shows reverted to the previous format of all performances on the Saturday night and the results show on the Sunday night.[14] However, there are 16 contestants and a reduced number of live shows, so almost all of the live result shows had double eliminations.[15] [16]
Nile Rodgers temporarily replaced Williams on the panel, due to touring commitments. Rodgers appeared in Williams's place from 4–18 November.[8] For the first time since 2008, there was no elimination on the Saturday (1 December 2018). Instead, all top 3 contestants progressed the Sunday (2 December 2018) live final results show.[17]
Keala Settle and Rak-Su, the winners of the previous series, performed on the first live results show. Little Mix and Kylie Minogue performed on the second live results show. James Arthur and Jonas Blue, Liam Payne and Lennon Stella performed on the third live results show. Michael Bublé, Olly Murs and Lady Leshurr performed on the fourth live results show. Cheryl and Tom Walker performed on the fifth live results show. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus appeared on the sixth live show (Andersson doing a Masterclass with the semi-finalists and Ulvaeus appearing on the judging panel alongside Williams, Field, Tomlinson and Cowell to judge the performances). Zara Larsson performed on the sixth live results show.
The live final featured a performance from Robbie Williams (with Take That) on the live final results show.[18]
Unlike the previous series where the live final was held at The ExCeL Center in London, instead this year's final was held at the normal venue which is The SSE Arena, Wembley in London.[19]
The winners single was the winning contestant's duet from the Sunday (2 December 2018) result show with all proceeds going to the children's charities Together for Short Lives and Shooting Star Chase. It is the eighth year running that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has waived any VAT on The X Factor
Act in team Simon
Act in team Robbie
Act in team Ayda
| – | Act was in the bottom two/three and had to perform again in the sing-off | |
| – | Act was in the bottom three but received the fewest votes and was immediately eliminated | |
| – | Act received the fewest public votes and was immediately eliminated (no sing-off) | |
| – | Act received the most public votes |
| Act | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Semi-Final | Final | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Vote | Second Vote | First Vote | Second Vote | First Vote | Second Vote | Saturday Vote | Sunday Vote | |||||
| Dalton Harris | 3rd 9.3% | 1st 15.5% | 2nd 15.2% | 1st 15.9% | 2nd 17.3% | 2nd 17.8% | 1st 23.8% | 1st 22.8% | 1st 26.9% | 1st 31.4% | Winner 41.3% | |
| Scarlett Lee | 6th 7.4% | 5th 6.8% | 4th 7.2% | 3rd 9.5% | 4th 8.9% | 4th 9.3% | 5th 9.4% | 4th 11.3% | 2nd 19.1% | 3rd 22.3% | Runner-Up 31.3% | |
| Anthony Russell | 1st 11.5% | 2nd 15.4% | 1st 15.6% | 2nd 14.8% | 1st 18.6% | 1st 18.8% | 2nd 19.0% | 2nd 19.9% | 3rd 18.9% | 2nd 23.5% | 3rd 28.8% | |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 9th 6.2% | 6th 6.6% | 7th 6.8% | 10th 6.5% | 9th 7.0% | 8th 8.0% | 6th 8.9% | 6th 9.8% | 4th 12.3% | 4th 14.7% | Eliminated | |
| Brendan Murray | 10th 4.9% | 12th 4.7% | 12th 4.8% | 9th 6.6% | 5th 8.6% | 5th 8.8% | 4th 9.5% | 5th 10.5% | 5th 11.9% | Eliminated (semi-final) | ||
| Danny Tetley | 8th 6.8% | 7th 6.3% | 6th 6.8% | 7th 7.2% | 7th 7.8% | 7th 8.1% | 3rd 12.8% | 3rd 12.6% | 6th 10.9% | |||
| Shan Ako | 2nd 10.0% | 3rd 7.9% | 3rd 7.9% | 4th 9.2% | 3rd 9.6% | 3rd 9.8% | 7th 8.5% | 7th 8.9% | Eliminated (quarter-final) | |||
| Bella Penfold | 4th 8.5% | 9th 5.3% | 9th 5.6% | 6th 7.2% | 6th 8.1% | 6th 8.5% | 8th 8.1% | Eliminated (quarter-final) | ||||
| Giovanni Spano | 13th 3.4% | 10th 4.9% | 10th 5.0% | 5th 7.8% | 8th 7.2% | 9th 7.3% | Eliminated (week 4) | |||||
| Misunderstood | 5th 8.0% | 4th 6.8% | 5th 7.2% | 8th 7.0% | 10th 6.9% | Eliminated (week 4) | ||||||
| Molly Scott | 7th 7.2% | 8th 5.6% | 8th 5.9% | 11th 4.5% | Eliminated (week 3) | |||||||
| United Vibe | 12th 4.5% | 11th 4.9% | 11th 4.8% | 12th 3.8% | ||||||||
| LMA Choir | 11th 4.8% | 13th 4.7% | 13th 4.5% | Eliminated (week 2) | ||||||||
| Janice Robinson | 14th 3.2% | 14th 4.6% | Eliminated (week 2) | |||||||||
| Armstrong Martins | 15th 2.4% | Eliminated (week 1) | ||||||||||
| Olatunji Yearwood | 16th 1.9% | |||||||||||
| Final Showdown | Martins, Robinson | No sing-off or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | LMA Choir, Murray | Acacia & Aaliyah, Scott | No sing-off or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | Acacia & Aaliyah, Spano | No sing-off or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | Acacia & Aaliyah, Ako | No sing-off or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | Acacia & Aaliyah, Lee | No sing-off or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone | |
| Judges voted to | Eliminate | Eliminate | Eliminate | Eliminate | Send Through | |||||||
| Rodgers' vote | Scott | Spano | Ako | |||||||||
| Williams' vote | Martins | Murray | Acacia & Aaliyah | |||||||||
| Field's vote | Martins | LMA Choir | Scott | Acacia & Aaliyah | Ako | Lee | ||||||
| Tomlinson's vote | Robinson | LMA Choir | Scott | Spano | Acacia & Aaliyah | Lee | ||||||
| Cowell's vote | Martins | Murray | Acacia & Aaliyah | Spano | Acacia & Aaliyah | Lee | ||||||
| Eliminated | Olatunji Yearwood 1.9% to save | Janice Robinson 4.6% to save | LMA Choir 2 of 4 votes Deadlock | United Vibe 3.8% to save | Misunderstood 6.9% to save | Giovanni Spano 3 of 4 votes Majority | Bella Penfold 8.1% to save | Shan Ako 2 of 4 votes Deadlock | Danny Tetley 10.9% to save | Acacia & Aaliyah 1 of 4 votes Minority | Anthony Russell 27.4% to win | |
| Armstrong Martins 3 of 4 votes Majority | Molly Scott 3 of 4 votes Majority | Brendan Murray 11.9% to save | Scarlett Lee 31.3% to win | |||||||||
This week's results show featured a double elimination. The three acts with the fewest votes were announced as the bottom three, and the act out of the three with the fewest public votes was then automatically eliminated. The remaining two acts then performed in the final showdown for the judges' votes.
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song[23] | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Misunderstood | Groups (Williams) | 1 | "Chewing Gum" (original song) | Safe | |
| Anthony Russell | Boys (Tomlinson) | 2 | "Issues" | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Danny Tetley | Over 29s (Field) | 3 | "Hero" | Safe | |
| Molly Scott | Girls (Cowell) | 4 | "Fake Love" | ||
| Janice Robinson | Over 29s (Field) | 5 | "Clarity" | Bottom Three | |
| Brendan Murray | Boys (Tomlinson) | 6 | "Break Free" | Safe | |
| Bella Penfold | Girls (Cowell) | 7 | "Beneath Your Beautiful" | ||
| Armstrong Martins | Boys (Tomlinson) | 8 | "Story of My Life" | Bottom Three | |
| Giovanni Spano | Over 29s (Field) | 9 | "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" | Safe | |
| United Vibe | Groups (Williams) | 10 | "Slow Hands" | ||
| Shan Ako | Girls (Cowell) | 11 | "Imagine" | ||
| Olatunji Yearwood | Over 29s (Field) | 12 | "Jiggle It" (original song) | Eliminated | |
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 13 | "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" | Safe | |
| LMA Choir | Groups (Williams) | 14 | "Circle of Life" | ||
| Acacia & Aaliyah | 15 | "Finesse" | |||
| Dalton Harris | Boys (Tomlinson) | 16 | "Life On Mars?" | ||
| Sing-off details | |||||
| Janice Robinson | Over 29s (Field) | 1 | "The Climb" | Saved | |
| Armstrong Martins | Boys (Tomlinson) | 2 | "True Colors" | Eliminated | |
This week's results show featured a double elimination. Lines were frozen on Sunday at 7:30 pm, 30 minutes before the results show, and Janice Robinson was eliminated after the special guest performance from Little Mix after receiving the fewest votes. Lines then reopened and the two acts with the next fewest votes then performed in the sing-off.
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song[25] | Guilty Pleasure | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMA Choir | Groups (Williams) | 1 | "Proud Mary" | Tina Turner | Bottom Three | |
| Shan Ako | Girls (Cowell) | 2 | "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" | Elton John | Safe | |
| Danny Tetley | Over 29s (Field) | 3 | "Crazy for You" | Madonna | ||
| Brendan Murray | Boys (Tomlinson) | 4 | "Believe" | Cher | Bottom Three | |
| Misunderstood | Groups (Williams) | 5 | "Close to You" | Maxi Priest | Safe | |
| Molly Scott | Girls (Cowell) | 6 | "Little Do You Know" | Alex & Sierra | ||
| Dalton Harris | Boys (Tomlinson) | 7 | "I Have Nothing" | Whitney Houston | Safe | |
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 8 | "Always on My Mind" | Elvis Presley | Safe | |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Groups (Williams) | 9 | "All My Life"/"Shutdown" | K-Ci & JoJo / Skepta | ||
| Giovanni Spano | Over 29s (Field) | 10 | "...Baby One More Time" | Britney Spears | ||
| Anthony Russell | Boys (Tomlinson) | 11 | "I Want to Know What Love Is" | Foreigner | Safe | |
| United Vibe | Groups (Williams) | 12 | "Party in the U.S.A." | Miley Cyrus | Safe | |
| Bella Penfold | Girls (Cowell) | 13 | "Diamonds Are Forever"/"Diamonds from Sierra Leone" | Shirley Bassey / Kanye West | ||
| Janice Robinson | Over 29s (Field) | 14 | "Show Me Love" | Robin S. | Eliminated | |
| Sing-off details | ||||||
| LMA Choir | Groups (Williams) | 1 | "A Change Is Gonna Come" | Eliminated | ||
| Brendan Murray | Boys (Tomlinson) | 2 | "High and Dry" | Saved | ||
With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. LMA Choir were eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
The live show was pre-recorded during Saturday afternoon to allow Williams to be present before flying to South America for touring commitments. Nile Rodgers appeared as a guest judge, filling in for Williams during the third results show and the fourth & fifth live shows and results shows.
This week's results show featured a double elimination. Lines were originally scheduled to be frozen on Sunday at 7:30 pm, 60 minutes before the results show, the act receiving the fewest votes leaving the competition at the beginning of the show before lines would reopen and the two acts with the next fewest votes would then perform in the sing-off. However, due to a technical issue that affected the sound during Danny Tetley and Anthony Russell's performances, Saturday's public vote was cancelled and lines instead opened in the results show on Sunday.[28] At the start of the live results show, all of the performances were shown in full before the public vote opened for 14 minutes.[29]
This week's results show featured a double elimination. Lines were frozen on Sunday at 7:30 pm, 60 minutes before the results show, and Misunderstood were eliminated after the special guest performance from Bublé after receiving the fewest votes. Lines then reopened and the two acts with the next fewest votes then performed in the sing-off.
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Movie | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giovanni Spano | Over 29s (Field) | 1 | "The Greatest Show" | The Greatest Showman | Bottom Three | |
| Dalton Harris | Boys (Tomlinson) | 2 | "California Dreamin'" | San Andreas | Safe | |
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "I'll Never Love Again" | A Star is Born | ||
| Brendan Murray | Boys (Tomlinson) | 4 | "Everybody Hurts" | Bewitched | ||
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Groups (Williams) | 5 | "Survivor" | Tomb Raider | Bottom Three | |
| Bella Penfold | Girls (Cowell) | 6 | "A Million Dreams" | The Greatest Showman | Safe | |
| Misunderstood | Groups (Williams) | 7 | "Maniac" | Flashdance | Eliminated | |
| Danny Tetley | Over 29s (Field) | 8 | "My Heart Will Go On" | Titanic | Safe | |
| Anthony Russell | Boys (Tomlinson) | 9 | "Eye of the Tiger" | Rocky III | Safe (Highest Votes- First And Second Votes) | |
| Shan Ako | Girls (Cowell) | 10 | "Never Enough" | The Greatest Showman | Safe | |
| Sing-off details | ||||||
| Giovanni Spano | Over 29s (Field) | 1 | "Let Me Entertain You" | Eliminated | ||
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Groups (Williams) | 2 | "All My Life"/ "Shutdown" | Saved | ||
This week's results show featured a double elimination. Lines were frozen on Sunday at 7:30 pm, 30 minutes before the results show, and Bella Penfold was eliminated immediately at the beginning of the show. Once that occurred, lines reopened for a few more minutes and the two acts with the next fewest votes performed in the sing off.
During the results show, Cowell originally told the acts that the final six would go on The X Factor Live Tour in 2019. After the elimination of Shan Ako, Cowell stated that he would allow both her and Penfold to join the final six on tour as well. His statement meant that the final eight would perform on the tour rather than the final six.
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song[34] | Big Band Artist | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 1 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | Andy Williams | Safe | |
| Brendan Murray | Boys (Tomlinson) | 2 | "Say Something" | A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera | ||
| Shan Ako | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "Summertime" | Ella Fitzgerald | Bottom Three | |
| Anthony Russell | Boys (Tomlinson) | 4 | "Beyond the Sea" | Bobby Darin | Safe | |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Groups (Williams) | 5 | "Act Our Age" (original song) | Original | Bottom Three | |
| Bella Penfold | Girls (Cowell) | 6 | "Strong" | London Grammar | Eliminated | |
| Dalton Harris | Boys (Tomlinson) | 7 | "Listen" | Beyoncé | Safe (Highest Votes- First And Second Votes) | |
| Danny Tetley | Over 29s (Field) | 8 | "My Way" | Frank Sinatra | Safe | |
| Sing-off details | ||||||
| Shan Ako | Girls (Cowell) | 1 | "Rise Up" | Eliminated | ||
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Groups (Williams) | 2 | "Bang Bang" | Saved | ||
With the acts in the sing-off receiving two votes each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Shan Ako was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
This week's semi-final featured a triple elimination. During Saturday's show, the lines froze where the two acts with the fewest votes were immediately eliminated. They then re-opened and closed during Sunday's results show ahead of the final sing-off of the series.
In addition, following all of the act's first performance during Saturday's show, each act performed a segment from an ABBA song where Björn Ulvaeus joined the judging panel for the performances.
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song To Get Into The Final (Part I) | Order | ABBA Song | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brendan Murray | Boys (Tomlinson) | 1 | "Run" | 11 | "I Have a Dream" | Eliminated |
| Danny Tetley | Over 29s (Field) | 2 | "This Is My Life" | 12 | "Thank You for the Music" | |
| Dalton Harris | Boys (Tomlinson) | 3 | "Feeling Good" | 7 | "SOS" | Safe (Highest Votes) |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Groups (Williams) | 4 | "Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2"/"I Win" | 10 | "Money, Money, Money" | Safe |
| Anthony Russell | Boys (Tomlinson) | 5 | "Livin' on a Prayer" | 8 | "The Name of the Game" | |
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 6 | "This Is Me" | 9 | "The Winner Takes It All" | |
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton Harris | Boys (Tomlinson) | 1 | "Clown" | Safe (Highest Votes) | |
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Groups (Williams) | 2 | "Big for Your Boots"/"Shutdown" | Bottom Two | |
| Anthony Russell | Boys (Tomlinson) | 3 | "Don't Look Back in Anger" | Safe | |
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 4 | "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" | Bottom Two | |
| Sing-off details | |||||
| Acacia & Aaliyah | Groups (Williams) | 1 | "Blinded by Your Grace, Pt. 2"/"I Win" | Eliminated | |
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 2 | "This Is Me" | Saved | |
| Category (mentor) | Order | First Song | Order | Second Song | Duet Partner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Russell | Boys (Tomlinson) | 1 | "Let It Be" | 4 | "Leave a Light On" | Tom Walker | |
| Dalton Harris | 2 | "A Song for You" | 5 | "Beneath Your Beautiful" | Emeli Sandé | ||
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 3 | "Your Song" | 6 | "Angels" | Robbie Williams |
| Category (mentor) | Order | Song | Duet Partner | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Russell | Boys (Tomlinson) | 1 | "I Predict a Riot" | Kaiser Chiefs | Eliminated | |
| Scarlett Lee | Girls (Cowell) | 2 | "One More Sleep" | Leona Lewis | Runner-Up | |
| Dalton Harris | Boys (Tomlinson) | 3 | "The Power of Love" | James Arthur | Winner |
As of September 2018, all official ratings include those who watched on demand via the ITV Hub.
| Episode | Air date | Official rating (millions inc. +1 and HD)[36] | Weekly rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditions 1 | 7.38 | 4 | ||
| Auditions 2 | 6.27 | 11 | ||
| Auditions 3 | 6.40 | 15 | ||
| Auditions 4 | 6.23 | 18 | ||
| Auditions 5 | 6.93 | 8 | ||
| Auditions 6 | 5.89 | 18 | ||
| Auditions 7 | 6.40 | 15 | ||
| Auditions 8 | 6.22 | 18 | ||
| Six-chair challenge 1 | 6.12 | 21 | ||
| Six-chair challenge 2 | 6.25 | 17 | ||
| Six-chair challenge 3 | 6.28 | 18 | ||
| Judges Houses 1 | 6.07 | 20 | ||
| Judges Houses 2 | 6.80 | 17 | ||
| Judges Houses 3 | 6.21 | 22 | ||
| Live show 1 | 5.51 | 24 | ||
| Live results 1 | 4.94 | 29 | ||
| Live show 2 | 5.27 | 24 | ||
| Live results 2 | 4.98 | 27 | ||
| Live show 3 | 4.84 | 33 | ||
| Live results 3 | 4.82 | 34 | ||
| Live show 4 | 5.00 | 26 | ||
| Live results 4 | 4.73 | 30 | ||
| Live show 5 | 4.93 | 31 | ||
| Live results 5 | 5.40 | 22 | ||
| Live show 6 | 5.02 | 33 | ||
| Live results 6 | 5.14 | 32 | ||
| Live final 1 | 4.81 | 35 | ||
| Live final 2 | 6.14 | 26 | ||
| Series average | 2018 | 5.75 |
During the audition stage, 20-year-old transgender man Felix Shepherd impressed the judges with his rendition of "All I Want" by Kodaline, and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Before singing, Williams asked him about his background; Shepherd said he was there to prove to people that he was "more than just a transgender guy." Williams responded by asking him: "So when you were born, what was your name?", thus misgendering him. Although many fans of the show were supportive of the representation, many were outraged by Williams' question, though Shepherd stated that he was not offended by Williams.[37] [38]
On 5 September 2018, whilst on Howard Stern's radio show, Osbourne accused Cowell of underpaying her for the new series. She used some offensive language to criticise Cowell and the show's auditionees, which led to a backlash from fans who suggested that Osbourne should be replaced.[39] Osbourne subsequently announced her decision to not participate during the live shows.
Various sources reported that Osbourne had been fired over the interview and Stern stated that he believed she had been tipped off to keep quiet. Osbourne later refuted Stern's allegations and stated that her comments were only made in jest and were not to be taken literally, but that they were misappropriated by other people including The X Factor’s production company due to Stern wanting to give Cowell a bad reputation by using his radio show. She added that although the company wanted to fire her, Cowell was not upset with the comments and wanted her to remain on the show, but that it was ultimately her decision to step down out of fear of awkwardness between her and fellow judges Williams and Field, with whom she is close friends, though she did not rule out a return to the show in the future.
During the third week of live shows, sound issues caused the judges, O'Leary and contestants to sound distorted. As the show was not live, O'Leary did not address the sound problems until the following night's live results show, but at the end of the programme, another message said: "Due to a technical issue, tonight's vote has been cancelled. It will open in tomorrow night's show." During the results show all the performances of the night were replayed before the lines opened to make the vote as fair as possible for the contestants.[28]