Former X Factor host Dermot O’Leary has some advice about the ITV singing contest for head judge Simon Cowell – including taking a break from it altogether...

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“If I was Simon I’d take [The X Factor] off air for a year,” O’Leary tells the new issue of Radio Times magazine. “I’d rest it, and then I’d get back to the rooms. For me it was always room [auditions], arena, boot camp.”

O'Leary stepped down ahead of last year’s series after eight years at the helm, before The X Factor dropped the initial in-room auditions in favour of arena performances. That move came as one of a number of format shake-ups, including a new-look Louis Walsh-less panel.

O’Leary also thinks the Six Chair Challenge section of the show, which sees acts literally singing for a seat – and is seen by many as unnecessarily stressful – needs to be ditched.

“I was really uncomfortable about the Six Chair Challenge. I don’t think it’s a particularly nice bit of television. One of the reasons people like [X Factor rival] Strictly is because Strictly is a very warm show, and I think you’ve got to keep that in mind.”

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Read the full interview with Dermot O’Leary in this week’s Radio Times magazine available in shops from Tuesday 12th January and from Apple Newsstand

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Dermot O'Leary's new show The Getaway Car comes to Saturday nights on BBC later this month. O'Leary also returns as host on this year's National Television Awards on ITV.

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