The X Factor (British TV series) series 11
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eleventh series began airing on ITV on 30 August 2014 and finished on 14 December 2014. Dermot O'Leary presented his eighth series of the main show on ITV and Sarah-Jane Crawford presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, replacing Caroline Flack and Matt Richardson. Louis Walsh was the only judge from series 10 to return and was joined by former judges Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Simon Cowell, and new judge Mel B, who replaced Sharon Osbourne, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger. Former judge Tulisa returned as a guest judge for the final on 13 December due to Mel B being ill. The series also saw the lower age limit decreased from 16 to 14, as it was in series 4 and 5. This was Walsh's final series as a judge before returning in series 13. It was O'Leary's final series as presenter on the main show, as he announced on 27 March 2015 that he was leaving to pursue other projects, before returning in series 13. On 11 May, Crawford also confirmed via Twitter that she would leave her position as The Xtra Factor presenter.
Room auditions took place in Manchester, London, Newcastle and Edinburgh from 16 June to 1 July, followed by arena auditions in London, that were held between 1 and 4 August. Bootcamp was held in London in August and judges' houses around Nice, Los Angeles, Bermuda and Cancún in September. The live shows began on 11 October. Fernandez-Versini mentored the Girls, Mel B mentored the Boys, Walsh mentored the Groups and Cowell mentored the Over 26s. Ben Haenow won the series against Fleur East on 14 December 2014 with 57.2% of the votes.
Judges, Presenters and Other Personnel
During the tenth series, Sharon Osbourne stated that she was only back for one series, to "go out on a high". Also, during the first live show of series 10, Gary Barlow revealed that it would be his last series on the show. Louis Walsh, who had also been on the show from its first series, announced his intention to quit as well, although he later backtracked and said that he "might come back" if Simon Cowell returned. Midway throughout the live shows, Walsh said "I'm having so much fun this year, I might stay".On 7 February 2014, Cowell, who left the UK show after series 7 to launch and judge the USA show, announced his return for Gary Barlow's replacement. He said, "I'm absolutely thrilled to be returning to The X Factor UK. It's been three years since I last judged the competition and I'm excited to find a global superstar again. On 13 February, it was reported that Nicole Scherzinger had departed the show, On 14 February, Cowell announced that Scherzinger would not be returning by tweeting, "Nicole will always be a part of he X factor family. Now signed to Sony as an artist. Thank you Nicole for everything.". On 24 February, former judge, Dannii Minogue confirmed that she would remain on The X Factor Australia judging panel for the 2014 Australian series, rather than return as a judge for the UK show to replace Scherzinger, after Minogue joined the Australia show the year before, despite popular demand in the UK for her to return for the 2014 UK series. On 10 March, former judge Cheryl Cole announced on her Instagram that she will be returning for the eleventh series to replace Osbourne, posting an image of herself and Cowell, accompanied by the caption: "GUESS WHAT!!.. I'm baaaacccckkkkk!!!!" On 30 May, Walsh confirmed he would be returning as a judge for his eleventh series. On 11 June, it was confirmed that series 9 guest judge Mel B, who has also previously judged the Australian show, would join the panel as the fourth permanent judge for Scherzinger's replacement. Following Cole's wedding to Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini on 7 July, it was announced by producers that she would be known throughout the series as her new married name, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini. On 13 December 2014, it was announced that former judge Tulisa would return as a guest judge for the final due to Mel B being ill.
Dermot O'Leary confirmed his return for his eighth series as presenter of the main show on ITV. On 3 February 2014, it was reported that Matt Richardson would not return as co-presenter on The Xtra Factor on ITV2. This was later denied, but it was confirmed on 4 June that Richardson would not return. On 11 June, Caroline Flack confirmed on Twitter that she will not be returning as presenter of The Xtra Factor. The next day, it was confirmed that Sarah-Jane Crawford will be the new presenter. Following her departure, Flack began competing as a contestant in the twelfth series of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. Brian Friedman, who served as creative director from series 4-7 before returning to work on the first three live shows of series 9, returned to replace Jerry Reeve and Mark "Swany" Swanhart.
Series 11 was originally O'Leary's final series hosting The X Factor, as he announced in March 2015 his decision to exit the series to pursue other projects. He was later replaced by Caroline Flack and Olly Murs, the latter of whom was a contestant during the competition's sixth series. This was also originally the last series to feature Louis Walsh as a judge after 11 years, as he quit in May 2015 to return to full-time management. It was also the only series to feature new judge Spice Girls star Mel B. They were replaced by BBC Radio 1 presenter Nick Grimshaw and The Voice UK coach, Rita Ora. Osbourne, Walsh, Scherzinger and O'Leary returned to the show alongside Cowell for the 13th and 14th series, with O'Leary remaining for series 15.
Promotion
On 12 March 2014, Cowell and Cole, the only confirmed judges at the time, appeared in a Daybreak interview together to promote the eleventh series for the first time. They discussed the upcoming series, their individual returns, Cole's departure from The X Factor USA and their subsequent feud; with Cowell admitting, "I made a mistake". Two advertisements subsequently began to air on ITV featuring Cole and Cowell separately, to encourage potential contestants to audition. Previous contestants Olly Murs, Shayne Ward, One Direction, Jahméne Douglas and Little Mix also appeared in videos encouraging potential applicants to audition.Rumored judges for the series included Ellie Goulding, Paloma Faith, Rita Ora, Kesha, and Murs.
On 12 June, during ITV's coverage of the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, a teaser trailer with the caption "Things Are About to Get Loud" first aired. The full trailer, featuring all four of the judges, was unveiled on ITV's YouTube channel on 1 August, and received its first TV airing the following evening.
Selection process
Eligibility
On 11 March 2014, Cowell confirmed at a press conference in London that closed room auditions would return for series 11, as well as the six-seat challenge at bootcamp. It was also revealed that the minimum age was being lowered from 16 to 14, as it was in series 4 and 5.Auditions
Mobile auditions
In addition to the producers' auditions, the "Mobile Audition Tour" took place up and down the UK and Ireland throughout March and April. Auditions began to open on 24 March, and visited Cork, Belfast, Newquay, Exeter, Bournemouth, Southampton, Bristol, Newport, Barry, Swansea, Romford, Leicester, Brighton, Norwich, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, South Shields, Durham, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Ayr, Solihull, Dudley, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Warrington, Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bolton and Widnes by 28 April.Open auditions
Producers auditions commenced on 5 April in Dublin and ended on 5 May in Liverpool. For the first time, nine open auditions were held, instead of the usual six, and the five in series 6 and 10. This series marked the first time that auditions had visited Ireland since series 7. It was also the first time open auditions were held in Plymouth and Edinburgh.| Audition city | Open audition date | Open audition venue |
| Dublin | 5 April 2014 | Convention Centre Dublin |
| Plymouth | 8 April 2014 | Holiday Inn Plymouth |
| Cardiff | 10 April 2014 | Mercure Cardiff Holland House Hotel and Spa |
| London | 13 April 2014 | Emirates Stadium |
| Birmingham | 23 April 2014 | St. Andrew's |
| Edinburgh | 27 April 2014 | Murrayfield Stadium |
| Gateshead | 30 April 2014 | Sage Gateshead |
| Manchester | 3 May 2014 | Old Trafford Cricket Ground |
| Liverpool | 5 May 2014 | Liverpool Convention Centre |
Judges auditions
Continuing from the format from the last series, both room auditions and arena auditions were held for the judges. In this series four locations were used for the judges auditions, the fewest used in a series at the time. The auditions started in Manchester on 16 and 17 June. The London auditions took place on 20 June and from 22–24 June, and were followed by Newcastle on 26 June, before concluding in Edinburgh on 1 July. The only judge missing from an audition day was Mel B, whose absence occurred during one of the arena audition days, due to commitments with America's Got Talent.The first room audition episode aired on 30 August, and featured Manchester, London and Edinburgh. More room auditions from London, Edinburgh and Manchester, along with those from Newcastle, were shown in 31 August episode.
Notable returning auditionees included Fleur East who reached the live shows in series 2 in the girl group Addictiv Ladies; Chloe Jasmine, who was rejected by the judges at her audition in series 3; Amy Connelly, who reached judges' houses in series 5; Jake Quickenden, who reached judges' houses in series 9; Lydia Lucy, who reached bootcamp in series 10; Tom Mann, who reached bootcamp in series 10; Barclay Beales, who reached bootcamp in series 10; and Paul Akister, who reached judges houses in series 10. Mann and Beales were both eventually put into the eight-piece boy band Stereo Kicks.