Dermot O'Leary leaves X Factor after 8 years as host

X Factor host Dermot O'Leary has stepped down from his role as presenter after eight years with the show.

Sources at the show tell RadioTimes.com it is Dermot's decision and that a replacement will be announced in due course.

The long-standing presenter announced the news on Twitter today writing:

You're about to be the conductor on the most brilliant, runaway train in showbiz. Good luck you'll love it.

— Dermot O'Leary (@radioleary) March 27, 2015

Rumours have been rife the presenter was set to leave the show, telling Radio Times earlier this year that if his time was indeed up, that he'd been "blessed" to have eight great years.

Further fuel was added to the fire when the presenter suggested something else might catch his eye. “If a new challenge came up that meant I couldn’t do both, then… But while I’m still enjoying it, I want to carry on doing it," he said.

Thoughts now of course turn to just who will step into Dermot's dancing shoes. And will they indeed dance? Will it be former contestant Olly Murs, whose name has been among the rumoured replacements?

Well, who's got the X Factor, eh?