The X Factor is broadcast live on ITV in the UK, with catchup on ITV Hub. Available simulcast on UTV in Northern Ireland, STV in Scotland and TV3 in Ireland.
A British reality television music competition, The X Factor aims to find new singing talent, contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. Created by Simon Cowell, the show began in 2004 and has since aired annually from August/September until December.
The series consists of auditions, bootcamp, judges’ houses, several weeks of live shows, semi-finals and the final. The series has a spin-off behind-the-scenes show called The Xtra Factor, which airs directly after the main show on ITV2.
❌ The X Factor 2018
📺 Free ITV Live Streaming & Catchup on ITV Hub
📅 September – December
There’s a brand new twist coming to The X Factor 2018: the Golden X. During the Six Chair Challenge, every judge will have one guaranteed ‘safe seat’ to give to a singer in their category, RadioTimes.com can confirm. Winning a Golden X will secure their spot at Judges’ Houses. The new feature brought in this series means that no matter what happens in the fraught Six Chair Challenge round, the singer with the ‘safe seat’ won’t be able to lose their chair.
It’s similar (ish) to the Golden Buzzer on Britain’s Got Talent, although on BGT, the buzzer guarantees an act’s place in the live final. Brand new judging line-up Robbie Williams, Ayda Field, Louis Tomlinson and Simon Cowell will all be looking for talent to take to the live shows this year. Although Cowell will be joined by the all-new panel for the majority of the series, Sharon Osbourne will also be a judge during the live shows.
There have been 14 winners of the show to date: Steve Brookstein, Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry, Matt Cardle, Little Mix, James Arthur, Sam Bailey, Ben Haenow, Louisa Johnson, Matt Terry and Rak-Su.
Separate global editions of The X Factor have been broadcast in USA (until 2013) and Australia (ongoing).
How to watch The X Factor on ITV from anywhere…
The X Factor 2018 will be streamed live on the ITV website as well as the various ITV Hub apps on iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.
When you load ITV Hub in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.
We’re sorry. ITV Hub is only available to viewers in the UK. If you want to watch in Europe, you may be able to use our ITV Essentials service, which offers our top pick of shows in selected countries.
This is basically because their streaming services are geoblocked based on the IP address being used to access it. You must be a UK domestic web user to access ITV live tv streaming and catchup with ITV Hub.
- Get a UK IP address.
- If you just want to watch on your PC, Mac or iPad. Then you can get a UK Proxy or VPN from Liberty Shield, FREE for 48 hours and then from only £8.99 per month..
- Prefer to watch on supported media streaming devices like Now TV, Smart TVs, Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, Amazon Fire TV, Roku etc? You’ll need a UK configured VPN Router setup as British, available from only £12.99 with Worldwide Shipping available.
Furthermore ITV Hub isn’t the only geographically-censored streaming services a VPN or Proxy will allow you to access. Other UK services like BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport, All 4, Sky Go and Now TV are available. Plus with the option to switch to our USA service whenever you like, you can access Hulu, HBO GO, Netflix and Pandora. Essentially you can access international content from virtually anywhere!
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X Factor Judges
- Simon Cowell (current)
- Robbie Williams (current)
- Ayda Field (current)
- Louis Tomlinson (current)
- Sharon Osbourne (live shows only)
- Louis Walsh
- Nicole Scherzinger
- Dannii Minogue
- Brian Friedman
- Cheryl Fernandez-Versini
- Gary Barlow
- Kelly Rowland
- Tulisa
- Mel B
- Nick Grimshaw
- Rita Ora
