The X Factor: Celebrity is a British celebrity special edition of The X Factor which premiered on 12 October 2019 on ITV. It is a revamped version of the 2006 celebrity format The X Factor: Battle of the Stars. Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh judged this series, with Dermot O'Leary presenting the series and Vick Hope hosting Xtra Bites on YouTube.
The format for the series was announced in 2019, after The X Factor was contracted until 2020. The celebrity lineup was announced on 30 September 2019. On 30 November, Megan McKenna won the series with 46.3% of the vote, with Max and Harvey finishing in second place and Jenny Ryan in third place.
Background and judges
The series' predecessor, The X Factor: Battle of the Stars aired in 2006 as a celebrity incarnation of The X Factor. It was reported on 26 August 2006 that Cowell had axed Battle of the Stars, describing it as "pointless" and adding "we are never going to do it again." However, Cowell later stated in an interview with The Sun on 30 November 2018 that he would consider reviving the show for a second series as a charity special.
The series was first reported in early 2019, as the main series was being put on hiatus due to declining ratings. On 7 July 2019, Walsh spoke about the return of the series, stating, "I go to Los Angeles on Tuesday, I go to Simon's house in Malibu, it's me, Simon and Nicole, we're doing the celebrity one." On 22 October 2019, it was revealed that Vick Hope would host Xtra Bites on YouTube, each episode premiered after each live show.
The format of the series differs heavily than Battle of the Stars to bring it more in line with the main series. Notable differences between this series and Battle of the Stars are instead of competing for charity, the acts are competing to win a record contract with Syco Music, and the live shows, instead of being aired daily, are aired every Saturday night, allowing more time inbetween shows for the acts to develop their artistry.
Acts A teaser, released in September 2019, teased the potential contestants of the series, of which include: a film star, model, online influencers, professional dancer, social media stars and a soap star. The full line-up was revealed on 30 September 2019. Cowell mentored the Groups, Walsh mentored the 16-30s and Scherzinger mentored the Over 31s. During auditions, Cowell's America's Got Talent co-judge Howie Mandel and American Idol co-judge Randy Jackson appeared as guest judges.
Key: – Winner – Runner-up – Third place – Fourth place – Eliminated in the Live shows – Eliminated in the Auditions
ActAge(s)HometownCategory (Mentor)Known ForResultMegan McKenna27Barking, England16-30s (Walsh)Television personality WinnerMax and Harvey16Sandhurst, EnglandGroups (Cowell)YouTube personalities Runner-upJenny Ryan37Bolton, EnglandOver 31s (Scherzinger)Quizzer & The Chase star 3rd placeV518–21Colombia / Puerto Rico /Brazil / Cuba / MexicoGroups (Cowell)Social media influencers 4th placeTry Star21–34Birmingham / Harare, Zimbabwe / ChesterRugby union players 5th placeVinnie Jones54Watford, EnglandOver 31s (Scherzinger)Actor & former Premier League footballer 6th placeKevin McHale31Plano, Texas, U.S.16-30s (Walsh)Glee actor 7th placeNo Love Lost21–24Essex / London / StaffordshireGroups (Cowell)Love Island stars8th placeMartin Bashir56Wandsworth, EnglandOver 31s (Scherzinger)Journalist & news anchor 9th placeJonny Labey26Grouville, Jersey16-30s (Walsh)Former EastEnders actor 10th placeVictoria Ekanoye36Bury, EnglandOver 31s (Scherzinger)Former Coronation Street actress 11th placeOlivia Olson27Los Angeles, California, U.S.16-30s (Walsh)Actress & singer 12th placeRicki Lake51Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.Over 31s (Scherzinger)Hairspray actress & former talk show host13th placeHayley Hasselhoff27Los Angeles, California, U.S.16-30s (Walsh)Actress & modelEliminatedCole and Edwards43 & 48Christchurch, New Zealand London, England Groups (Cowell)Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Former Hollyoaks actor Eliminated
Notes
Auditions The audition process took place in Los Angeles, California. The celebrity acts were all asked to meet with O'Leary in a location where they then spent two days with the production team working on vocal training and song choices. They then auditioned for Cowell, Walsh and Scherzinger at a house party in Malibu consisting of various singers, songwriters, record producers and talent judges for the acts to perform in front of.
Some of the guest judges that the celebrities got to perform in front of were as follows:
Vinnie Jones, who was due to take part in the show, was unable to fly to Los Angeles for his audition due to the death of his wife Tanya Terry on 6 July 2019. Cowell personally called Jones two months later and offered him an unconditional place in the live shows. Order Celebrity Category Song choice ResultWeek 1 (12 October 2019) 1 No Love Lost Groups "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" Advanced 2 Kevin McHale 16-30s "Never Be the Same"3Max and HarveyGroups "I Don't Care" "Sucker" 4 Cole & Edwards Groups "Love at First Sight" Eliminated 5 Martin Bashir Over 31s "L-O-V-E" Advanced 6 Hayley Hasselhoff 16-30s "Someone You Loved" Eliminated 7 Jenny Ryan Over 31s "Somebody to Love" Advanced 8 Try Star Groups "No Diggity"Week 2 (19 October 2019)1Olivia Olson16-30s "Location" Advanced "Come Together"2Jonny Labey16-30s "Feel It Still" "Feeling Good" with David Foster 3 Megan McKenna 16-30s "Everything but You" 4 Ricki Lake Over 31s "Us" 5 V5 Groups "Juice" 6 Victoria Ekanoye Over 31s "The House of the Rising Sun"
Notes
Live shows
Results summary Colour key –Act was eliminated by their mentor –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 was given a Safe Seat from the judges
+ Weekly results per act ActAuditions Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Quarter-Final Semi-Final Final First Vote Second Vote Megan McKenna Advanced 1st26.7% 1st30.1% 1st25.7% 1st21.6% 1st28.6% 1st40.6% Winner46.3% Max and Harvey 5th10.6% 3rd12.2%SafeSeat 4th14.0% 3rd16.9% 2nd27.5%Runner-Up27.1% Jenny Ryan EliminatedSafeSeat 5th10.4% 2nd25.5% 3rd14.5% 2nd17.2% 3rd21.2%3rd22.4% V5 Advanced 6th8.7% 4th12.0% 5th11.0% 5th10.5% 5th11.1% 4th10.7% Try StarSafeSeatSafeSeat 3rd17.5% 2nd20.8% 4th15.7% Vinnie Jones 2nd16.5% 2nd14.0%SafeSeat 6th10.1% 6th10.5% Kevin McHale 7th7.9%SafeSeat SafeSeat 7th8.5% Eliminated (quarter-final) No Love Lost 3rd11.2%SafeSeat 4th13.7% Eliminated (week 3) Martin Bashir 8th3.7% 6th9.3% 6th6.6% Jonny LabeySafeSeat 7th6.6% Eliminated (week 2) Victoria Ekanoye 4th10.7% 8th5.4% Olivia Olson 9th2.9% Eliminated (week 1) Ricki Lake 10th1.1%Hayley Hasselhoff EliminatedEliminated (Auditions)Cole & Edwards Sing-off N/A Bashir,Olson Bashir,Labey No Love Lost,V5 Jones,McHale Try Star,V5 No sing-off or judges' votes: results were based on public votes alone Walsh's voteto eliminate (16-30s)Hasselhoff Bashir Bashir No Love Lost Jones Scherzinger's voteto eliminate (Over 31s)Ryan Olson Labey No Love Lost McHale Try Star Cowell's voteto eliminate (Groups)Cole & Edwards Olson None (abstained) McHale Try Star Eliminated Cole & Edwardsby Cowell Ricki Lake1.1%to save Victoria Ekanoye5.4%to save Martin Bashir6.6%to save Kevin McHale2 of 3 votesMajority Vinnie Jones10.5%to save V510.7%to save Jenny Ryan22.4%to win Hayley Hasselhoffby Walsh Olivia Olson2 of 3 votesMajority Jonny Labey1 of 2 votesDeadlock No Love Lost2 of 2 votesMajority Try Star2 of 2 votesMajority Max and Harvey27.1%to win Jenny Ryanby Scherzinger Although Ryan was eliminated by Scherzinger, Ryan later returned as the thirteenth finalist. Cowell was not required to vote as there was already a majority. Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority. The voting percentages in the final's second vote do not add up to 100%, owing to the freezing of votes. V5 received 4.2% of the final vote.
Week 1 (26 October) Theme: Express Yourself
+ Acts' performances on the first live show Act Category (mentor) Order Song (original artist) Result Kevin McHale 16-30s (Walsh) 1 "Good as Hell" (Lizzo) Safe Ricki Lake Over 31s (Scherzinger) 2 "Landslide" (Fleetwood Mac) Eliminated (Fewest Public Votes) No Love Lost Groups (Cowell) 3 "All or Nothing" (original song) Safe Jenny Ryan Over 31s (Scherzinger) 4 "Rise Like a Phoenix" (Conchita Wurst) Saved by Scherzinger Jonny Labey 16-30s (Walsh) 5 "Show Me Love" (Robin S.) Saved by Walsh V5 Groups (Cowell) 6 "Bad Guy"/"Taki Taki" (Billie Eilish) / (DJ Snake) Safe Martin Bashir Over 31s (Scherzinger) 7 "Danke Schoen" (Wayne Newton) Bottom Three Max and Harvey Groups (Cowell) 8 "When Will I Be Famous?" (Bros) Safe Olivia Olson 16-30s (Walsh) 9 "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (Dionne Warwick) Eliminated (Judges' Vote) Vinnie Jones Over 31s (Scherzinger) 10 "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" (Solomon Burke) Safe Megan McKenna 16-30s (Walsh) 11 "This" (original song) Safe (Highest Votes) Victoria Ekanoye Over 31s (Scherzinger) 12 "Never Tear Us Apart" (INXS) Safe Try Star Groups (Cowell) 13 "Pony"/"Old Town Road" (Ginuwine) / (Lil Nas X) Saved by Cowell
Judges' votes to eliminate
Walsh: Martin Bashir - backed his own act, Olivia Olson. Scherzinger: Olivia Olson - backed her own act, Martin Bashir. Cowell: Olivia Olson - concluded that the public would like to see Bashir through to next week more.
Week 2 (2 November) Musical Guest: James Arthur ("Quite Miss Home")
+ Acts' performances on the second live show Act Category (mentor) Order Song Result Jonny Labey 16-30s (Walsh) 1 "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" Eliminated (Deadlock) Jenny Ryan Over 31s (Scherzinger) 2 "This Is My Life" Safe No Love Lost Groups (Cowell) 3 "Would I Lie to You?" (semi-original song) Saved by Cowell Victoria Ekanoye Over 31s (Scherzinger) 4 "Why Don't You Love Me" Eliminated (Fewest Public Votes) Max and Harvey Groups (Cowell) 5 "Cool" Safe Kevin McHale 16-30s (Walsh) 6 "Dance Monkey" Saved by Walsh Try Star Groups (Cowell) 7 "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" Saved by Scherzinger Martin Bashir Over 31s (Scherzinger) 8 "Easy" Bottom Three V5 Groups (Cowell) 9 "Despacito"/"Mi Gente" Safe Vinnie Jones Over 31s (Scherzinger) 10 "Lip Up Fatty" Megan McKenna 16-30s (Walsh) 11 "Stronger" (original song) Safe (Highest Votes)
Judges' votes to eliminate Walsh: Martin Bashir - backed his own act, Jonny Labey. Scherzinger: Jonny Labey - backed her own act, Martin Bashir. Cowell abstained from voting as he wanted to hear the public's opinion and sent the result to deadlock.
With the acts in the bottom two receiving one vote each, the result went to deadlock and reverted to the earlier public vote. Jonny Labey was eliminated as the act with the fewest public votes.
Week 3 (9 November) + Acts' performances on the third live show Act Category (mentor) Order Song Result Kevin McHale 16-30s (Walsh) 1 "Don't Start Now" Saved by Walsh Max and Harvey Groups (Cowell) 2 "Can't Hold Us" Saved by Cowell Vinnie Jones Over 31s (Scherzinger) 3 "It Must Be Love"/"House of Fun"/"One Step Beyond" Saved by Scherzinger Try Star Groups (Cowell) 4 "No Diggity" Safe V5 Groups (Cowell) 5 "Motivation"/"I Like It" Bottom Three Martin Bashir Over 31s (Scherzinger) 6 "That's Life" Eliminated Megan McKenna 16-30s (Walsh) 7 "Half of My Heart" (original song) Safe (Highest Votes) No Love Lost Groups (Cowell) 8 "Money Where Your Mouth Is" (original song) Bottom Three Jenny Ryan Over 31s (Scherzinger) 9 "The Edge of Glory" Safe Sing-off details V5 Groups (Cowell) 1 "Juice" Saved No Love Lost Groups (Cowell) 2 "Sorry" Eliminated Judges' votes to eliminate Walsh: No Love Lost - based his decision on whom he thought would sell more records. Scherzinger: No Love Lost - said that she liked V5 more consistently throughout the competition.