Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Robbie Williams, Ayda Williams and Louis Tomlinson join Simon Cowell as judges on The X Factor

17/07/2018

Published: Tue 17 Jul 2018

Robbie Williams, Ayda Williams and Louis Tomlinson join Simon Cowell as judges on The X Factor

The X Factor is today thrilled to announce Robbie Williams, Ayda Williams and Louis Tomlinson will join Simon Cowell on the new-look judging panel for the hit ITV singing talent show.

The three new judges appeared with Simon at a press conference at Somerset House in central London this afternoon where they were officially revealed.

Robbie is a global superstar who has sold more than 75 million albums over his career and won 18 BRIT Awards - more than any other artist in history. Robbie has been playing to sold out stadiums across the world over the past year on his The Heavy Entertainment Show Tour' - which has seen him perform to more than 1.25 million fans across the UK, Europe and Australasia. Robbie released the platinum-selling The Heavy Entertainment Show' album in November 2016 - it debuted at Number 1 on the UK album chart, giving Williams his 12th Number 1 solo album.

Ayda Williams - actress, presenter and wife to Robbie for eight years - will be competing with her husband to claim the winning spot on this year's show. Ayda has an invaluable inside take on how the music industry works and knows first-hand what it takes to forge a successful career. It is the first time on The X Factor UK that a husband and wife have been judges.

Louis is the first judge to have also been a contestant on the show. As a member of One Direction he has sold more than 150 million records worldwide and achieved more than 100 global No1s. One Direction were the biggest selling UK act globally for three consecutive years and in 2013 they were overall the biggest selling act in the world.

As a solo artist, Louis' single Back to You hit No.1 in 37 countries and has been streamed more than 220 million times. He recently won the 2018 iHeartRadio award for Best Solo Breakout and is currently recording his debut solo album.

Music mogul and show creator Simon has been the mastermind behind some of the music industry's biggest acts from Leona Lewis and One Direction to Little Mix and James Arthur. Acts from The X Factor UK have sold more than 250 million records globally to date.

Simon told the gathered media at the press conference: This new panel is all about optimism, everyone has a real passion for finding a new star. The three new judges bring a whole new energy and I'm excited.

Robbie said: For nearly 30 years I've been touring. I've been wanting to branch out and The X Factor felt like the perfect vehicle. Ayda is my rock, she's looked after me through thick and thin. I'm looking forward to getting started as a judge!

Ayda said: On a professional level I've auditioned for years so I know the highs and lows. I know what it takes to help people achieve their dreams. It's all about the auditionees, it's an organic process. The fact I get to work with Rob and against him is fantastic!

Louis said: The X Factor for me made a lot of sense. Development of artists is something I've been interested in for a long time. Having been on the show myself I know first-hand that the live shows are like nothing else you would experience. I'm looking forward to guiding auditonees through the process.

Sharon Osbourne will also return as a judge for The X Factor's live shows while Dermot O'Leary is back as presenter.

Auditions for the 15th series of The X Factor begin at The SSE Arena, Wembley tomorrow (Wednesday July 18).

Audience tickets for the auditions are available via Applause Store at https://www.applausestore.com/book-the-x-factor-judges-auditions-2018

Notes to editors:

The X Factor is a co-production between Syco Entertainment and Thames (part of FremantleMedia UK) for ITV.

The show returns to ITV this autumn.
LINK: https://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/robbie-williams-ayda-wi...
See more stories from itv

Europe Stories

03/06/2024

Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...

28/04/2024

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2

Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...

29/03/2024

Thales Announces Partnership with Saporo in Belgium to Empower Organizations with Enhanced Cybersecurity Resilience

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn This collaboration brings together Thales' e...

28/03/2024

No votes for all

Out of an estimated 20,000 journalists in Pakistan, less than one thousand are women according to a recent Gender Disparity Report published by the Internationa...

28/03/2024

The 4K cameras giving audiences an astronaut's view of Earth

TVBEurope meets Charles Black, founder and CEO of Sen, which has sent a payload of 4K cameras to the ISS to livestream images of Earth to audiences around the w...

28/03/2024

VEON Pays Back Outstanding Balance and Cancels its Revolving Credit Facility

28 Mar 2024 VEON Pays Back Outstanding Balance and Cancels its Revolving Credit Facility Amsterdam, 28 March 2024, 09.30 CET - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON, Euronex...

28/03/2024

Rohde & Schwarz first to show measurements on novel Bluetooth Channel Sounding signals for positioning accuracy

Rohde & Schwarz first to show measurements on novel Bluetooth Channel Sounding ...

28/03/2024

Julia Rodgers Joins Riedel Communications as Southeast Regional Sales Manager, Bringing Decades of Industry Expertise

Wuppertal March 28, 2024 Julia Rodgers Joins Riedel Communications as Southeas...

28/03/2024

Thales speeds up its development of AI for defence

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales, Europe's leading high-tech company in the civil and defence fields, has announced the creation of cortAIx, which bri...

27/03/2024

UKTV sets up second series of Dream Car Fixers for Yesterday and UKTV Play

Wednesday 27 March 2024 - UKTV has commissioned a second series of Dream Car Fixers (6x60) for leading factual channel Yesterday and free streaming service UKTV...

27/03/2024

Paving the Way' for Spotify's NextGen Scholarship Recipients

Spotify is committed to amplifying the voices of underrepresented groups, and that starts with empowering the creators who will shape our industry's future....

27/03/2024

I knew there were cameras, lighting, some buttons and microphones involved': How Crew Room Academy is inspiring the next generation

TVBEurope hears from some of the students who took part in Crew Room Academys Sc...

27/03/2024

Adobe reveals Gen AI solutions for content supply chain

Elsewhere, Adobe revealed a new feature in Adobe Firefly, which uses the companys generative AI to easily apply the structure of an existing image to newly gene...

27/03/2024

Best of Show Awards for 2024 NAB Show entries close soon

The awards, from industry-leading brands of Future plc, provide a great opportunity for companies to stand out at one the most attended shows in the industry B...

27/03/2024

Meet the director of IT and operations

By TVBEurope Staff Published: March 27, 2024 Updated: March 28, 2024 CueScript's director of IT and operations, Meghan Tyler, tells TVBEurope about h...

27/03/2024

2023 Annual Report Publication

Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland, and Phoenix (AZ), USA, March 27 2024 - The Kudelski Group has published its 2023...

27/03/2024

Publication of Annual Report 2023

Annual Report 2023...

27/03/2024

ALOFT AeroArchitects equips private Boeing Business Jet aircraft with Eutelsat OneWeb's LEO satellite connectivity service

Photo credit: ALOFT AeroArchitects Press release - 27 March 2024 12:27 ALOFT...

27/03/2024

Dalet Showcases AI-Enabled Production, Automation and Monetization at NAB 2024

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced its 2024 NAB showcase (booth #W1713). Attendees can experience fi...

27/03/2024

Cinegy Multiviewer 24.2 - Scales of Efficiency

SL6031, NAB Show, Las Vegas, 14-17 April 2024: Cinegy, the premier provider of software defined television technology for digital video capture, processing, ass...

27/03/2024

PERCEVAL: Thales and partners reshape the future of airline pilot training

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Thales has formed a consortium with ENAC, lENS Paris-Saclay, Simaero, AviaSim and Corsair to develop a tooled methodology for ev...

27/03/2024

Advocacy in Action: Creating a future where public service media thrive

Advocacy in Action: Creating a future where public service media thrive...

27/03/2024

EBU calls on MEP candidates to Do the next right thing for media and democracy!'

EBU calls on MEP candidates to Do the next right thing for media and democracy!...

27/03/2024

The media industry gave away the keys to the kingdom once - that shouldn't happen again

The media industry gave away the keys to the kingdom once - that shouldn't h...

26/03/2024

Sube la temperatura con las canciones del verano 2024 en Argentina y Brasil

De diciembre a marzo, cuando los ciudadanos del hemisferio sur disfrutan del verano, la m sica se convierte en una poderosa representaci n de las culturas y cos...

26/03/2024

Aumente o Som com as Msicas do Vero de 2024 da Argentina e do Brasil

De dezembro a mar o, medida que as pessoas em todo o Hemisf rio Sul aproveitam o ver o, a m sica surge frequentemente como uma representa o poderosa das cult...

26/03/2024

Turn Up the Heat With Argentina's and Brazil's 2024 Songs of Summer

From December to March, as people across the Southern Hemisphere soak up the summer, music often emerges as a powerful representation of a region's cultures...

26/03/2024

A Collaboration With Panavision: Pedro Luque, SCU

Cinematographer Pedro Luque, SCU's credits include the features Body Cam, Antebellum and director J.A. Bayona's Best International Feature Oscar-nominat...

26/03/2024

China's Leading Mobile Operators First To Commercially Launch New Fraud Reducing Password Service, After Receiving GSMA Open Gateway Certification

GSMA welcomes CITIC Telecom, Huawei and ZTE as Channel Partners 26 March 2024, Beijing: China's three leading mobile operators - China Mobile, China Telec...

26/03/2024

China's 5G market is set to add almost $260 billion to the Chinese economy in 2030 with connections set to top 1 billion this year

At the Post-MWC Sharing Event in Beijing, leaders from the GSMA contextualised t...

26/03/2024

Crown Works Studios moves forward following council approval

The studios are expected to be one of the largest in Europe, with 20 premium sound stages suitable for major feature film and high-end TV (HETV) productions By...

26/03/2024

The Slovak democracy must not be dismantled in silence

The Slovak democracy must not be dismantled in silence...

26/03/2024

VEON announces sale of stake in Beeline Kyrgyzstan, increasing the focus on its large markets

26 Mar 2024 VEON announces sale of stake in Beeline Kyrgyzstan, increasing the ...

26/03/2024

embedded world 2024: Rohde & Schwarz presents its cutting-edge test solutions for embedded systems

embedded world 2024: Rohde & Schwarz presents its cutting-edge test solutions fo...

26/03/2024

Riedel and TSL Provide Cost-Effective, High-Quality Video Routing and Control for Leading Financial Corporation

Wuppertal March 26, 2024 Riedel and TSL Provide Cost-Effective, High-Quality V...

26/03/2024

IBM Announces EMEA Geography Winners of the 2024 IBM Partner Plus Awards

London, UK, March 26, 2024 Today, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced the EMEA geography winners of the 2024 IBM Partner Plus Awards, which celebrate IBM partners who a...

26/03/2024

Eutelsat OneWeb services activated for enterprise and maritime in Australia and New Zealand through Sat One partnership

Photo credit: GETTY IMAGES Press release - 26 March 2024 11:29 Eutelsat OneW...

26/03/2024

2024-03-26

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced it will host its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) online from June 10 through 14, 2024. Developers and ...

25/03/2024

Spotify Tests Video-Based Learning Courses in the UK

Today we're launching a test for video-based courses on Spotify in the U.K. We've partnered with educational tech companies including BBC Maestro, PLAYv...

25/03/2024

NEP Australia expands IP and remote production with Calrec Argo

NEP Australia expands its IP and remote production capabilities with first install of Calrec Argo consoles NEP Australia, a division of NEP Group and a prominen...

25/03/2024

NAB 2024 Preview | Why attend NAB 24?

NAB 2024 Preview | April 14 -17 | Booth C6307 | Las Vegas Convention Center We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at the 2024 NAB ...

25/03/2024

Blackbird adds indexing and AI auto sequencing to video editing platform

Twelve Labs AI will enable editors to locate specific storytelling moments within their video content using natural language, said the companies By Jenny Pries...

25/03/2024

Meet the director of strategic marketing

By TVBEurope Staff Published: March 25, 2024 Updated: March 26, 2024 Bruno Fran on, director of strategic marketing at Backlight, talks to TVBEurope abou...

25/03/2024

With the EMFA, the EU has a new toolbox to prevent governments from taking over the media

With the EMFA, the EU has a new toolbox to prevent governments from taking over ...

22/03/2024

SGL Carbon achieves annual targets for 2023 and invests more in growth markets

In fiscal year 2023, SGL Carbon achieved the sales and earnings targets set at the beginning of the year despite the drop in demand from the important wind mark...

22/03/2024

Grass Valley secures $220 million in strategic refinancing

The company said it intends to accelerate innovation across its entire portfolio, most notably in the AMPP ecosystem following the refinancing By Jenny Priestl...

22/03/2024

RT kicks off Guinness Women's Six Nations coverage with France v Ireland

Watch all the games live across RT and Virgin Media Television from Saturday 23rd March All Ireland games live on RT Radio The Guinness Women's Six Nat...