Love him or hate him, Louis Walsh will definitely be returning for this year's X Factor. The veteran judge, who has signed up for his 11th series, confirmed the news last night, making him the only judge to have starred in all 11 series of The X Factor since it began in 2003.
The news comes despite him announcing the 2013 stint would be his 10th and final run with the ITV contest.
Louis Walsh returns to The X Factor (WENN)
Appearing on Irish radio station 2FM yesterday, Louis spilled the news to host Colm Hayes: "I knew I was doing the show but I just signed the deal and I'm very happy with it. At my age you have to keep working!"
While we can hardly say we're surprised by the news, Louis' return was put in doubt following the announcement Cheryl Cole would be returning to the show after a three-year break as the two have both been embroiled in a bitter slanging match since Cheryl's departure back in 2010.
He'll be joining Simon and Cheryl (Supplied by WENN)
However Simon has insisted the duo will just have to put the spat behind them when the auditions kick off later this month, explaining: "They will get on really well," he said. "I think they'll try to hog the limelight [and] it will be all about them.
"The falling out is long over and this'll give Cheryl a whole new career. She'll have a new record coming out and all."
Now there's just one space left to fill and right now it's looking almost a dead cert that Spice Girl Mel B will be filling the fourth and final seat on the panel.
According to Louis he's just much in the dark as the rest of us but if he was going to bet on anyone he's be betting on Scary. "It has to be someone I like," he joked. "I'd love it to be Sharon Osborne, but I don't think it's going to be her.
"I think it could be Mel B from the Spice Girls - I love her and she's quite mad.
"She also did both the American version and the Australian versions of X Factor. But people are also mentioning Alesha [Dixon] and Rita Ora as well."
Simon, Cheryl and Louis will return to our screens for the 11th series of The X Factor this Autumn.
Who Will Replace Gary Barlow On The X Factor?
Olly has had a successful music career so far and has been touring the world as of late, does he have time to be an X Factor judge as well?
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
