The X Factor: The Band
Dermot O’leary on why he’s proud to be hosting a new TV search to find a boy and a girl group
Home and abroad, The X Factor has been the launch pad for some of the world’s most popular groups. Since the show began in 2004, discoveries such as Britain’s One Direction, Little Mix and JLS, plus US favourites Fifth Harmony, have sold more than 400 million records between them.
Now, show boss Simon Cowell is on the hunt for the next big pop group to sign to his record label in new ITV spin-off series The X Factor: The Band.
After auditions in London, a panel of judges (unannounced at the time of writing) will select boys and girls to form two groups, who will then battle it out to be crowned The Band.
Here, host Dermot
O’leary, 46, tells us more…
How did the idea come about?
Simon Cowell and The X Factor have discovered some of the biggest pop groups in recent music history. So, for this series, we’re scouring the country to find the best solo singers to put together into the two bands.
What makes this show different to The X Factor?
In previous years, you’ve seen the judges put individual singers into a group – usually with their decision-making and reasoning off-camera – but, this time, people will get to see the process take place. The judges will select boys and girls to form new bands, just like they did with One Direction and Little Mix, then both bands will go head-to-head to be crowned the winning group with a live-arena finale in Birmingham.
We’ll see the bands being put together across just three pre-recorded shows. Sounds like a challenge… Well, they’ll certainly be up against it as they’re not giving the bands much time. But if anyone can do
it, we can do it.
Are you looking forward to the final being held in Birmingham? It’s always nice to take the show around the country. We did the final in Manchester a few years ago, which went really well. It’s always nice to get out and see other places and you get a full sense of the whole country being involved as well.
You must feel so proud, being there at the start as the careers of bands like One Direction and Little Mix took off…
I’m incredibly proud. The most exciting thing is to see them grow as people and turn into artists.
What are the best and worst things about hosting
The X Factor?
The best thing is that you never know who’s coming round the corner. But saying goodbye to acts you’ve grown quite close to is hard, that’s probably the toughest thing.
Are there particular challenges when The X Factor goes live?
It’s very exciting. A lot of live telly is actually quite predictable, and it doesn’t really need to be live. The unpredictability of
The X Factor is one of the best things about it!
Victoria Wilson