Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke and Shayne Ward will return for X Factor all stars
Louis Walsh has revealed the three singers will compete in the Champion of Champions battle
Former X Factor judge Louis Walsh has announced Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke and Shayne Ward are all returning for the show’s 2019 All-Star series.
The three singers – all former winners of the programme – will be among the contestants to battle it out in a ‘Champion of Champions’ format. This All-Star version will be separate from a celebrity version of The X Factor, also expected to air this year.
Speaking ahead of the celebrity version, which is set to start filming this month, Walsh also revealed that he and Nicole Scherzinger would both return to the judging panel.
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"We haven’t been told who the celebrities are [in the X Factor's celebrity version] I’ve just read bits in the papers. They want it to be a surprise to us when they walk out,” he told The Mirror.
"It’s going to be great, and then we do the 'best of' [The X Factor All Stars Champion of Champions series] all in one week, all the winners are coming back. Leona's coming back, Alexandra, Shayne, they’re all coming back."
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Leona Lewis won the third series of The X Factor in 2006, breaking into the international stage with superhit Bleeding Love in 2007. In total, she’s released five studio albums, the latest of which, I Am, was released in 2015.
Shayne Ward is the show’s second winner, coming top in the show’s 2005 competition. After releasing four studio albums, Ward joined the cast of Coronation Street in 2015 where he took the role of Aidan Connor for three years.
Winner of The X Factor’s fifth series, Alexandra Burke enjoyed international success, releasing three studio albums. She has also starred in a variety of West End musicals – from Sister Act to Chicago – and was a finalist in the 2017 series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Speaking about the Celebrity and All Star series – expected to air in 2019 – Walsh added: “It’s been so long as the old X Factor it had to change.
“I don’t know what he’s planning for next year but this year I think the celebrity version is going to be brilliant and then the best of is like, wow.”
