The X Factor UK (Series 13)

The X Factor UK (Series 13)
Series	13
Broadcast from	27 August 2016 – 11 December 2016
Judges	Louis Walsh Sharon Osbourne Nicole Scherzinger Simon Cowell Mel B (guest judge)
Presenters	Dermot O'Leary Rylan Clark-Neal Matt Edmondson
Network	ITV ITV2
Number of finalists	13
Winner	Matt Terry
Runner-up	Saara Aalto
Notable returnees	The Brooks (11) Gifty Louise (12) Anelisa Lamola (4) Faye Horne (8) (9) Girl Next Door (12) Caitlyn Vanbeck (12) Niall Sexton (8) Emily Middlemas (11) Ottavio Columbro (9) Eddie Lee (6) Janet Grogan (11) Bradley Johnson (8)
Ratings	7.3 (millions)
Chronology
Previous	Series 12
Next	Series 14

Series 13 of The X Factor premiered on 27 August 2016 and concluded on 11 December 2016.  

It was won by 23-year old pop singer Matt Terry who was part of the Boys category mentored by Nicole Scherzinger.  It was her second win as a mentor after winning with James Arthur in the same category in 2012.

Prior to the final, it was announced that Honey G had signed a deal with Syco Music and it has also been reported that girl group band Four of Diamonds have secured a deal with the label. On December 20, runner-up Saara Aalto confirmed that she had signed a joint deal with Sony Music London and Sony Music UK.

It is the least-watched series in the show's run with an average of 6.5 million viewers tuning in for the final and a total of 7.3 million tuning in for the whole series.

Production

Simon Cowell was the only judge to return from the previous year while Cheryl, Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora have departed to be replaced by returning judges Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Scherzinger. Walsh is the only judge to be present for all but one series to date.

Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom departed as the presenters of The Xtra Factor to be replaced by Series 9 finalist Rylan Clark-Neal and returning presenter Matt Edmondson.

Series 6 finalist Olly Murs and TV presenter Caroline Flack departed as the presenters of The X Factor after one series to be replaced by former host Dermot O'Leary, who is returning after a year's break. It was his ninth time presenting.

This was also the last series to be sponsored by UK telecommunications group TalkTalk.

Judges

Louis Walsh	Sharon Osbourne	Nicole Scherzinger	Simon Cowell

Twists/Changes

Arena Auditions: These were completely scrapped in favor of a return to the room auditions only which were last seen in Series 5.

Bootcamp: The auditionees who reached this stage were faced with a wall of songs and had to fight it out with each other over which song to perform. Afterwards, the judges discovered which categories they would mentor.

Wildcards: On 21 September 2016, it was revealed that there would be a new wildcard twist. In Series 9 a wildcard twist was previously introduced with the public choosing the thirteenth finalist but this time the Girls wildcard was nominated by Louis, the Overs wildcard was nominated by Nicole, the Groups wildcard was nominated by Sharon and Simon nominated the Boys wildcard, making it 7 acts in each category and 28 in total through to Judges' Houses.

Jukebox: A jukebox was introduced as the live shows got underway and at the end of each show it was brought out and the theme for each week chosen at 'random'. A new theme week called 'Louis Loves' was also included.

Lifeline Vote: As the live shows got under way, a lifeline vote was introduced to save one act who landed in the Bottom 3. Voting was done via the mobile app but on 12 November it was announced that this would be scrapped with the two acts who received the lowest amount of votes facing the sing off.

Winner's Single: For the first time since 2005, the winner's single was an original song. It was composed by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran but in a series first it was only performed on the show by the winner after they had been announced. It is also the first time in the show's history that the single would not be getting a physical release. Proceeds from the sale of the single were shared between two charities: Together for Short Lives and Shooting Star CHASE.

Finalists

Act		Category	Finish	Elimination
	Bratavio 23-24, Southampton	Groups	13th week one	Majority vote
	Brooks Way 17, Cardiff	Groups	12th week two	Withdrew
	Freddy Parker 18, Bromley	Boys	11th week two	Deadlock
	Relley C 27, Birmingham	Over 25s	10th week three	Majority vote
	Gifty Louise 20, London	Girls	9th week 4	Majority vote
X Factor 2017 Live Tour
	Four of Diamonds 17-22, various places	Groups	8th week 5	Majority vote
	Sam Lavery 17, Durham	Girls	7th week six	Deadlock
	Ryan Lawrie 20, Bellshill, Scotland	Boys	6th week seven	Majority vote
	Honey G 35, Harrow	Over 25s	5th quarter-final	Majority vote
	Emily Middlemas 18, Glasgow	Girls	4th semi-final	Majority vote
]]	5 After Midnight 20-23, various	Groups	3rd final	Least public votes
	Saara Aalto 29, Finland	Over 25s	Runner-up final	Least public votes
	Matt Terry 23, London	Boys	Winner final	Most public votes

Selection process

Auditions

See: List of The X Factor UK auditionees (series 13)

The format saw the return of the room auditions with the arena auditions being scrapped.

Notable returning auditionees included: Caitlyn Vanbeck, who was eliminated during the Six Chair Challenge in Series 12; Rebekah Ryan, who reached the final 12 in the Over 25s category in Series 4; Emily Middlemas, who was eliminated at Judges' Houses in Series 11; Janet Grogan, who was eliminated during the Six Chair Challenge in Series 11; Relley C, who reached Judges Houses in Series 10; and Gifty Louise, who made it to bootcamp in Series 12; Ottavio Columbro made it as far as bootcamp in Series 9; Anelisa Lamola who reached Bootcamp in Series 4; Niall Sexton reached bootcamp in Series 8; Eddie Lee reached Bootcamp in Series 5; The Brooks, who reached Judges' Houses in Series 11; Aeron Smith, who reached Bootcamp in Series 12, and Faye Horne, who reached Bootcamp in Series 8; Samantha Atkinson who reached Bootcamp in Series 12 and Skarl3tt who reached the Six Chair Challenge as 'PYT' in Series 12.

Bootcamp

See: Bootcamp (series 13)

A total of 121 acts made it through to Bootcamp. In a change to previous years, a 'Wall of Songs' was set up and the acts had to run to it and grab a piece of paper bearing a song title, which they would then perform in front of the judges once divided into groups.

After performing several acts were eliminated, leaving just 60 acts to find out who their mentor would be before they faced the Six Chair Challenge.  Simon Cowell was given the Girls, Nicole Scherzinger was given the Boys, Sharon Osbourne was given the Over 25s and Louis Walsh was given the Groups.

Six Chair Challenge

See: Six Chair Challenge (series 13)

The Six Chair Challenge took place from July 9 to 12 at the SSE Arena, Wembley. A total of 15 acts from each category performed in front of the judges and live audience before being narrowed down:

Summary of six chair challenge

Judge	Category	Chairs
		1	2	3	4	5	6
Cowell	Girls	Sohelia Clifford	Kayleigh Marie Morgan	Olivia Garcia	Emily Middlemas	Gifty Louise Agyeman	Caitlyn Vanbeck
Scherzinger	Boys	Nate Simpson	James Hughes	Niall Sexton	Freddy Parker	Matt Terry	Christian Burrows
Osbourne	Over 25s	Samantha Atkinson	James Wilson	Relley C	Christopher Peyton	Janet Grogan	Ivy Grace Paredes*
Walsh	Groups	The Brooks	Skarl3t	Bratavio	Four of Diamonds	5 After Midnight	Tom and Laura

• Although Ivy Grace Paredes made it to Judges' Houses, she had to withdraw from the competition due to visa issues. Her replacement was announced on The Xtra Factor as Honey G who was originally eliminated during the Six Chair Challenge.

Judges' Houses

See: Judges' Houses (series 13)

In mid-September it was confirmed that each judge would choose a wildcard for another judge. Walsh chose the Girls wildcard, Scherzinger chose the Overs wildcard, Osbourne selected the Groups wildcard and Cowell chose a wildcard for the Boys category, meaning 28 contestants would go to judges' houses.

Summary of judges' houses

Judge	Category	Location	Guest mentor(s)	Contestants eliminated	Wildcard
Cowell	Girls	Malibu	Mel B & Emma Bunton	Soheila Clifford, Olivia Garcia, Kayleigh Marie Morgan, Caitlyn Vanbeck	Samantha Lavery
Scherzinger	Boys	Nice	Calvin Harris	Christian Burrows, Nate Simpson, James Hughes, Niall Sexton	Ryan Lawrie
Osbourne	Over 25s	Beverly Hills	Robbie Williams	James Wilson, Christopher Peyton, Samantha Atkinson, Janet Grogan	Saara Aalto
Walsh	Groups	Ibiza	Alesha Dixon & Fleur East	Yes Lad, Tom and Laura, Skarl3t, Four of Diamonds*	Yes Lad

• Four of Diamonds were initially eliminated at Judges Houses, however they returned during the second week of the Live shows in order to replace Brooks Way, who withdrew following media reports of abusive behaviour.

Live Shows

Results Summary

Weekly results per act
Week		1	2		3	4	5	6	7	Quarter-Final	Semi-Final	Final
Eliminated
	Matt Terry	1st 22.2%	1st 19.5%		1st 17.8%	2nd 18.7%	1st 16.7%	3rd 16.7%	1st 21.1%	3rd 21.2%	3rd 22.5%	2nd 33.4%	Winner 48.5%*
	Saara Aalto	9th 5.3%	9th 6.4%		2nd 13.7%	3rd 11.3%	6th 9.4%	2nd 18.4%	2nd 20.1%	1st 23.7%	1st 28.8%	1st 35.3%	Runner-Up 40.1%*
	5 After Midnight	2nd 13.3%	2nd 15.6%		4th 11.5%	4th 10.6%	2nd 15.5%	1st 19.0%	3rd 17.5%	4th 20.3%	2nd 26.6%	3rd 31.3%	Eliminated (final)
	Emily Middlemas	3rd 11.9%	3rd 11.0%		3rd 11.9%	1st 18.7%	3rd 15.3%	4th 13.4%	4th 16.8%	2nd 22.6%	4th 22.1%	Eliminated (semi-final)
	Honey G	4th 10.9%	4th 9.3%		5th 9.4%	6th 9.2%	5th 11.6%	5th 11.7%	6th 11.2%	5th 12.2%	Eliminated (quarter-final)
	Ryan Lawrie	8th 6.2%	10th 4.6%		8th 7.4%	7th 8.7%	4th 14.1%	6th 11.1%	5th 13.3%	Eliminated (week 7)
	Sam Lavery	5th 9.8%	5th 8.8%		6th 8.1%	5th 10.1%	8th 8.5%	7th 9.7%	Eliminated (week 6)
	Four of Diamonds	Eliminated (judges houses)	6th 7.3%		10th 6.1%	9th 6.1%	7th 8.9%	Eliminated (week 5)
	Gifty Louise	7th 6.6%	8th 6.4%		7th 7.9%	8th 6.6%	Eliminated (week 4)
	Relley C	6th 7.8%	7th 6.6%		9th 6.2%	Eliminated (week 3)
	Freddy Parker	10th 3.4%	11th 4.5%		Eliminated (week 2)
	Brooks Way	Ejected	Withdrew (week 2)
	Bratavio	11th 2.6%	Eliminated (week 1)
Lifeline Vote Winner		Parker	Lawrie		Lawrie	Lawrie	Lavery	None
Final Showdown		Aalto, Bratavio	Parker, Aalto		Relley C, 4 Of Diamonds	Four of Diamonds, Louise	Four of Diamonds, Aalto	Lavery, Lawrie	Lawrie, Honey G	Honey G, 5 After Midnight	Terry, Middlemas	No final showdown or judges' votes; results were based on public votes alone
Walsh's vote to eliminate		Aalto	Parker		Relley C	Louise	Aalto	Lawrie	Lawrie	Honey G	Middlemas
Osbourne's vote to eliminate		Bratavio	Parker		Four of Diamonds	Louise	Four of Diamonds	Lavery	Lawrie	5 After Midnight	Middlemas
Scherzinger's vote to eliminate		Bratavio	Aalto		Relley C	Louise	Four of Diamonds	Lavery	Honey G	Honey G	Middlemas
Cowell's vote to eliminate		Bratavio	Aalto		Relley C	Four of Diamonds	Four of Diamonds	Lawrie	Lawrie	Honey G	Terry
Eliminated		Bratavio 3 of 4 votes Majority	Brooks Way Withdrew	Freddy Parker 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Relley C 3 of 4 votes Majority	Gifty Louise 3 of 4 votes Majority	Four of Diamonds 3 of 4 votes Majority	Sam Lavery 2 of 4 votes Deadlock	Ryan Lawrie 3 of 4 votes Majority	Honey G 3 of 4 votes Majority	Emily Middlemas 3 of 4 votes Majority	5 After Midnight 31.3% to save	Saara Aalto 40.1% to win

• In the Sunday Final, 5 After Midnight received 11.1% of the public vote despite being eliminated already.

Ratings

Episode	Air date	Duration (minutes)	Share (%)	Official ITV rating	Official ITV HD rating	Total viewers (millions)	Weekly rank
Auditions 1	27 August	90	34.0	6.34	1.55	7.89	2
Auditions 2	28 August	60	31.0	5.95	1.36	7.32	4
Auditions 3	3 September	60	39.0	7.46	2.06	9.52	3
Auditions 4	4 September	60	33.1	6.90	1.76	8.66	4
Auditions 5	10 September	60	35.7	6.59	1.77	8.36
Auditions 6	11 September	60	32.5	6.58	1.57	8.15
Auditions 7	17 September	60	39.3
Bootcamp	18 September	90	31.1
Six Chair Challenge 1	24 September	110		7.1
Six Chair Challenge 2	25 September	120
Judges' Houses 1	1 October	110		6.8
Judges' Houses 2	2 October	90
Live Show 1	8 October	120
Results Show 1	9 October	60
Live show 2	5 October	120	5.22	6.68	7.07	16
Live results 2	16 October	60	5.67	7.07	7.38	11
Live show 3	22 October	110	5.43	6.90	7.21	20
Live results 3	23 October	60	5.48	7.03	7.27	19
Live show 4	29 October	110	5.09	6.74	7.08	15
Live results 4	30 October	60	5.15	6.69	6.99	22
Live show 5	5 November	100	5.00	6.42	6.83	18
Live results 5	6 November	60	5.18	6.87	7.17	14
Live show 6	12 November	90
Live results 6	13 November	60
Live show 7	19 November	85
Live results 7	20 November	60
Live show 8	26 November	110
Live results 8	27 November	60
Live semi final	3 December	90
Live results 9	4 December	60
Live final	10 December	125
Live final results	11 December	125

Criticism and controversies

Brooks Way withdrawal
Just hours before the first live show, duo Brooks Way, consisting of twin brothers Kyle and Josh Brooks, were suspended from the competition, over allegations that Josh had been violent with his ex-girlfriend Amelia Clark, allegedly breaking her nose and kicking her in the face during a New Year Eve party earlier in the year. It was reported throughout the weekend that Josh was regularly beating up Kyle. Kyle and Clark came to Josh's defense, saying respectively that the allegations were false and that they were written by a friend and fan who chose to exploit from the show. During the broadcast, presenter Dermot O'Leary acknowledged the brothers absence stating that it is due to "circumstances that have arisen".

The following Monday, they released a statement saying that they were withdrawing from the competition, from "mutual consent" with the producers, whilst denying the "false allegations" and saying that "truth always wins". They were replaced by girl group, 4 Of Diamonds.

Claims of fixing
The show's producers were forced to deny that the competition was fixed when a nightclub, Kittys & Kandy, in Kirkcaldy, posted on Facebook that Honey G would be performing there on 10 December 2016, the same night as the show's final. The post was deleted and the venue said they had secured the date in case Honey G was eliminated before that date, but a spokesperson for the show said, "This story is not true and there is no foundation to any fix claims. The club was mistaken in their post that she would be there on 10 December and the post has since been removed.

Several viewers suspected that the jukebox wheel was rigged after it selected "Fright Night" for the theme for week 4, two days before Halloween. O'Leary insisted the wheel was not rigged, calling it "the most rudimentary hamster wheel you've ever seen in your life". Scherzinger also said she thought it was not fixed because, "I can't pick my songs until we know what [theme] we're doing—and the producers aren't picking anything as well." Contestant Emily Middlemas said of the wheel: "It's not computerised, it's an old-fashioned wheel. We can see it at the side and there's no-one else around apart from Dermot [O'Leary] pulling the wheel. We do it at rehearsals and it lands on something different each time. All of the producers knew people would say it was fixed. [But] we know how it works".

The show was hit by another fixing claim during the Week 5 results show when viewers found themselves unable to vote via the mobile app to save one of the acts in the Bottom 3. However, the problem was not addressed by Dermot O'Leary who announced that Sam Lavery was safe.

Voting
At the start of the third live show, O'Leary announced that the voting lines were open for all contestants before they had performed, instead of after they performed as it had been in the first two live shows. Isobel Mohan from The Daily Telegraph claimed this was unfair and gave an advantage to those performing first and turned it into a popularity contest instead of a talent show.

As the live shows got under way, a lifeline vote was introduced to save one act who landed in the Bottom 3. Voting was done via the mobile app but on November 6 several viewers complained on Twitter after the app crashed. On 12 November it was announced that it would be scrapped with the two acts who received the lowest amount of votes facing the sing off.

Gifty Louise
During the third live results show, when O'Leary was announced who was through to the fourth week, Gifty Louise was heard swearing off screen as fellow contestant Sam Lavery was announced as the first act safe. A spokesperson said: "We've had five complaints about this. We will assess these complaints before deciding whether to investigate or not." The show was eventually cleared in spite of the violation of one of its broadcasting codes.

Honey G record deal

During the first night of the final, Honey G returned to the stage to perform a mashup and announced that she had been signed to Syco Music.  This was met with controversy since a winner had not yet been crowned.

Team Rankings

1. Over 25s (mentored by Sharon Osbourne)

2. Boys (mentored by Nicole Scherzinger)

3. Girls (mentored by Simon Cowell)

4. Groups (mentored by Louis Walsh)

Trivia

• As of the semi final, this is the first series where every finalist competed in the final showdown.
• This is the only series where the finalist who topped the vote on the first night of the final did not go on to win the series.
• This is the first series where only the winner performed the winner's single after they had won. In past years, both the winning act and the runner-up performed their potential winner's single.
• This is the second series where the final four acts won the public vote throughout the live shows.
• This is the first series where every judge had their highest-placing act in the final four and semi-final.
• The final was the least-watched to date with only 7 million viewers tuning in.
• This is the only UK series where Walsh has an act in the final while Cowell doesn't.
• This is the first series where a male judge mentored the Girls category.