Countdown to X Factor: Kick off date is announced

Another clip in the jam-packed trailer shows a woman in a PVC skirt crawling along the judges’ desk, while Simon sits back with his hands behind his head, ever the professional.

And having added that Julie would have been “disappointed” if he hadn’t returned to work relatively quickly, he continued, “I’m not going to lie, there were times it was incredibly hard “.

But the singer has undergone a radical transformation by the looks of things, after she posted a snap of her brand new look on Twitter.

“Then Ben went on at the end and it was an anti-climax”.

Her chart success was followed by a UK tour, but in February this year she was dropped from Simon Cowell’s Syco record label.

The first 90-minute episode of the new series will air on ITV at 8pm, Saturday 29th August.

The show continues at the same time on Sunday 30th August.

The double audition format has gone with the judges’ rooms axed (again) as this year wannabes go straight to performing for the panel on stage at Wembley Arena.

Dermot O’Leary was also a casualty of the shake up, and has left his role as presenter after eight series.

As well as Rita and Nick joining the judging panel, Caroline Flack and Olly Murs will take over presenting duties while Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom are taking over ITV2 spin off The Xtra Factor from Sarah-Jane Crawford. Not that there’s ever a good time for it to happen, and it is still all a bit raw.

However, we are now clearly in an era that is far more choosy when it comes to what it actually wants, and we have no better evidence of this than the past few years of “The X Factor”. Though don’t expect plain sailing – this is the X Factor after all.