Louis Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger, Robbie Williams... and er, someone else? We helpfully hatchet through the tabloid rumours around who Simon Cowell will put behind the desk in 2013

The X Factor judge sued Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers after being wrongly accused of sexual assault

A healer has reportedly been brought in to mend the rift between Louis and Gary

The longest ever pause before a result leads to a contentious first eviction as Carolynne Poole loses on deadlock

Don't tell us you missed it! How awful. Console yourself with the neatly archived version of Jack Seale's live blog

Christopher Maloney, Adam Burridge, Amy Mottram, Times Red - the judges each have a fourth act with a chance of making the live finals. Vote for your favourite...

The fallout is now disrupting our talent shows… this is serious!

Prepare yourself for tantrums, tuning disasters and lot of bleeping, as we take a look at some of the most explosive contestants from the last nine years

See the first pics of Louis Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger, Tulisa Contostavlos, Gary Barlow and host Dermot O'Leary from this year's series of the talent show

Manchester Central Conference Centre will play host to the first X Factor finale outside of the capital