The X Factor airs in the United Kingdom on the ITV network and was created by Simon Cowell.

The show is hosted by Kate Thornton and the three judges are Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. Each judge is in charge of a different section of singers on the show. The judges do not know what section of the competition they will be in charge of until the audition process has finished. Each judge then has to pick four acts to take forward to the live section of the show. Each week the two acts with the lowest amount of public votes have to sing again in a final showdown after which the judges decide who should be eliminated. Once there are only five acts left remaining it becomes left to the public to decide who should go.

Series one was won by Steve Brookstein while series two was won by Shayne Ward. The third series was won by Leona Lewis making her the first female winner of the show. All three of them went on to have number one hits in the United Kingdom record charts. The show will return for a fourth series in late summer 2007 with Dermot O'Leary as the new host.