The X Factor UK
Season 15 M-Net (*101) 19:00 Reality
Simon Cowell goes through judges on his reality talent show The X Factor UK (2004-current) like most viewers change underwear and he’s bringing in some big guns for season 15. “Robbie Williams came down to my other show Britain’s Got Talent (2007-current), had such a good time that night and goes, ‘You know what? This is fun. Can we do a deal?’ So we did a deal,” says Simon, who’s made sure that his new co-judges know talent when they see it.
Popstar Robbie has been in showbiz for over 30 years – he started as part of boyband Take That and has been a solo act since the mid-’90s. While he went through a crazy patch in the early ’00s and ranted about aliens while living in LA, he’s sold over 75 million albums and you can’t do that without talent. Robbie’s wife Ayda Field is sitting next to him as part of his “deal” with Simon but she isn’t just there for show: she’s a full-time actress and started her career in 2000 as Angela Moroni on soapie Days Of Our Lives (1965-current). And third judge Louis Tomlinson has a pop career because of The X Factor – he was part of boyband One Direction, formed by Simon during season 7 of the show in 2010, so he literally has walked a mile in the contestants’ shoes.
As for the three oldie judges from season 14, they’re still around. Entertainment manager Sharon Osbourne can be found on talkshow The Talk (2004current), talent manager Louis Walsh quit The X Factor after 13 years to be head judge on Ireland’s Got Talent (2018-current), and Pussycat Dolls popstar Nicole Scherzinger is part of the hosting team on 2018 reality show Sidemen.