List of The X Factor (British TV series) finalists

The X Factor is a British television music competition that first aired in 2004. As of December 2017, there have been fourteen completed series. The final round of the competition features a number of solo singers or vocal groups: nine in series 1, twelve in series 2-6 and 10, 16 in series 7, 8, 11 14, and 15, and 13 in series 9, 12 and 13. A total of 184 acts have reached the finals of their series.
During the first three series, the contestants were split into three groups: "16-24s", "25-and-overs" and "groups". Each set of contestants was mentored by one of the show's judges, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. From series 4 onwards, the 16-24s were subdivided into boys and girls categories as a fourth judge, Dannii Minogue, joined the show, making four categories in total. Following Osbourne's exit from the show after series 4, Cheryl replaced her. In series 7, the over 25s were changed to over 28s, before being changed back to over 25s for series 8. Also in series 8, Cowell, Minogue and Cheryl all left the show, leaving Walsh as the only judge to return from the previous year. He was joined on the panel by Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. For series 9, Rowland left the show and Nicole Scherzinger joined the panel as her replacement. The over 25s were changed to over 28s again in series 9, and then back to over 25s in series 10. Osbourne also returned to the panel in series 10, replacing Tulisa. The over 25s were changed to over 26s in series 11. Cowell and Cheryl returned for series 11, replacing Barlow and Osbourne. Mel B joined the panel in series 11, replacing Scherzinger. Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw joined the panel in series 12, replacing Mel B and Walsh. The over 26s were changed to over 27s in series 12, and then back to over 25s in series 13. Walsh, Scherzinger and Osbourne returned to the panel in series 13, replacing Grimshaw, Ora and Cheryl. The over 25s were changed to over 28s in series 14, and then to over 29s in series 15. Only Cowell returned to the panel for series 15, where was he was joined by Robbie Williams, Ayda Field and Louis Tomlinson, who replaced Walsh, Osbourne and Scherzinger, respectively.
As of series 14, all five categories have won the show on at least one occasion, while seven of the show's nine judges have had the winning act in their category at least once, with Cowell winning four times, Cheryl, Minogue and Scherzinger winning twice, and Walsh, Tulisa, Osbourne, Ora and Tomlinson winning once. The only judges not to win were Rowland, Barlow, Mel B, Grimshaw, Field and Williams, with Field and Williams' best performance having their contestant been the twelfth eliminated and their contestant been the fourteenth eliminated respectively in 2018, Rowland, Mel B and Grimshaw's best performance having their contestant been the last eliminated in 2011, 2014 and 2015 respectively and Barlow placing runner-up in 2011. Osbourne failed to win the show in her initial stint, but won on her return in series 10.

Contestants

Name	Series	Category	Mentor	Finished
2 Shoes	8	Groups	Tulisa
2 to Go	1	Groups	Louis Walsh
4Sure	3	Groups	Louis Walsh
4th Impact	12	Groups	Cheryl
4Tune	2	Groups
5 After Midnight	13	Groups
	13	Over 25s	Sharon Osbourne
	2	Over 25s	Sharon Osbourne
Acacia & Aaliyah	15	Groups
Addictiv Ladies	2	Groups
	6	Girls
	7	Over 28s
	11	Boys
	15	Girls
Alien Uncovered	12	Groups	Cheryl
	3	Over 25s
	10	Girls
	3	16-24s	Simon Cowell
	6	Over 25s	Simon Cowell
	9	Boys
	8	Girls
Bad Lashes	5	Groups
	10	Over 25s
	10	Girls
Belle Amie	7	Groups
	4	Girls
	14	Boys	Louis Walsh
Blonde Electra	11	Groups	Louis Walsh
	14	Girls
Bratavio	13	Groups	Louis Walsh
	8	Over 25s	Louis Walsh
Brooks Way	13	Groups	Louis Walsh
	1	Over 25s
	8	Over 25s
	5	Boys	Simon Cowell
Bupsi	12	Over 27s	Simon Cowell
	5	Girls	Cheryl
	7	Over 28s
	13	Over 25s
	1	16-24s
	10	Boys
	7	Boys
	12	Boys
	9	Boys
	8	Boys
	7	Girls	Cheryl
	8	Boys
	8	Boys
	1	16-24s
	2	Groups	Simon Cowell
	14	Groups	Simon Cowell
	6	Boys	Cheryl
	14	Girls
	4	Over 25s
	14	Over 28s
	8	Girls
District3	9	Groups
Diva Fever	7	Groups
	2	16-24s
	9	Boys
	5	Boys
	11	Over 26s
	2	Over 25s
	9	Girls	Tulisa
Eton Road	3	Groups
	5	Over 25s
	4	Over 25s
	11	Boys
	7	Girls	Cheryl
	7	Boys
	10	Girls
Four of Diamonds	13	Groups
	10	Boys
Futureproof	4	Groups	Simon Cowell
	7	Groups	Simon Cowell
	13	Over 25s
G4	1	Groups
Girlband	5	Groups
	7	Boys
	8	Girls
	11	Over 26s
	15	Boys
	9	Girls	Tulisa
Hope	4	Groups
	1	16-24s
	5	Over 25s
Jack & Joel	14	Groups
	4	Boys
	11	Over 26s
	11	Girls	Cheryl
	14	Over 28s
JLS	5	Groups
John & Edward	6	Groups
	6	Over 25s
	12	Girls	Rita Ora
	6	Girls	Dannii Minogue
Journey South	2	Groups
Kandy Rain	6	Groups
	1	Over 25s
	8	Over 25s
Kingsland Road	10	Groups
	13	Girls
	13	Boys
	2	Over 25s
	15	Girls
	7	Over 28s
	3	16-24s
	8	Girls
	14	Over 28s
Little Mix	8	Groups	Tulisa
	7	Girls	Cheryl
LMA Choir	15	Groups
	6	Boys	Cheryl
	5	Over 25s	Dannii Minogue
	13	Girls
	3	Groups	Louis Walsh
	14	Boys	Louis Walsh
	2	16-24s	Louis Walsh
	14	Boys	Louis Walsh
	9	Over 28s
	15	Boys
	9	Over 28s
	10	Boys
	6	Boys	Cheryl
	3	Over 25s	Sharon Osbourne
	3	16-24s
	8	Boys
	12	Girls
	13	Girls
	3	Over 25s
Miss Dynamix	10	Groups
Miss Frank	6	Groups
Misunderstood	15	Groups
	3	Over 25s
MK1	9	Groups
	12	Boys
	15	Boys
	12	Girls
	6	Over 25s
	4	Girls
	11	Girls	Cheryl
	12	Boys
Nu Vibe	8	Groups	Tulisa
One Direction	7	Groups
Only The Young	11	Groups	Louis Walsh
Overload Generation	11	Groups	Louis Walsh
	13	Boys
	15	Girls
	11	Girls	Cheryl
	9	Over 28s
	11	Boys
	5	Boys
	3	16-24s
Rak-Su	14	Groups
Reggie 'n' Bollie	12	Groups	Cheryl
	7	Boys
	8	Groups	Tulisa
	11	Over 26s
	4	Boys
	15	Over 29s
	8	Over 25s
Rough Copy	10	Groups
	15	Boys
Same Difference	4	Groups
	1	Over 25s
	11	Girls	Cheryl
	15	Girls	Simon Cowell
	14	Groups	Simon Cowell
	10	Over 25s	Sharon Osbourne
	2	Over 25s	Sharon Osbourne
	10	Over 25s	Sharon Osbourne
	6	Girls
	9	Over 28s
	4	Girls
	15	Over 29s
	9	Girls	Tulisa
	12	Over 27s	Simon Cowell
Stereo Kicks	11	Groups
	12	Over 27s	Simon Cowell
	14	Boys
	14	Girls
	13	Boys
	15	Over 29s
	4	Over 25s	Louis Walsh
	3	Groups	Louis Walsh
Union J	9	Groups	Louis Walsh
United Vibe	15	Groups
	5	Girls	Cheryl
Voices with Soul	1	Groups	Louis Walsh
Wagner	7	Over 28s	Louis Walsh
	7	Girls	Cheryl
	11	Boys
	2	16-24s
	12	Girls
	14	Over 28s
	5	Girls	Cheryl
	4	Boys
	14	Girls
	15	Over 29s
	2	16-24s

On four occasions, contestants have left the show under different circumstances than regular elimination. In series 4, Emily Nakanda withdrew from the show. In series 8, Frankie Cocozza was removed from the show after breaking a "golden rule" of the show. In the ninth series, Lucy Spraggan withdrew in week 5 of the live shows due to illness, after not performing in week 4, and not having had a full rehearsal session for week 5. Brooks Way withdrew from series 13 by mutual agreement after being absent from the first live show, due to events in the personal life of one of the band's members.
Little Mix were originally known on the show as "Rhythmix" until they changed their name following pressure from a children's charity with the same name.
In 2011, four contestants were eliminated from the show following the first live show by the judges, without facing a public vote, so should be listed as finishing joint 13th. However, following the removal of Cocozza 5 weeks later, the public were given the opportunity to vote for one of the four contestants to return. With 48% of votes cast, Amelia Lily was reinstated to the show. As a result, 2 Shoes, Jonjo Kerr, and James Michael are classed as joint 14th with Lily going on to finish in third place.