After bootcamp and judges' houses, the live shows began on 12 October 2013, and ran until the final on 15 December 2013, which was won by over 25s contestant Sam Bailey.
This was the final series of the three-year deal signed by Simon Cowell in 2010,[3] before it was announced by ITV on 15 November that the show's contract was extended by a further three years, keeping it on air until 2016.
[16] On 29 May, it was announced that comedian Matt Richardson would co-present The Xtra Factor with Flack,[17] after reports that Nick Grimshaw, Dave Berry or Rylan Clark may replace Murs.
Between 25 March and 1 April 2013, mobile auditions took place in Inverness,[20] Great Yarmouth,[21] Warrington,[22] Aberdeen,[23] Colchester,[24] Hull,[25] Dumfries,[26] Grimsby,[27] Romford,[28] Belfast,[29] Newport on the Isle of Wight,[30] Sunderland,[31] Wakefield,[32] Bangor,[33] Middlesbrough, Yeovil, Aberystwyth, Blackburn, Dublin, Blackpool, Cork, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport in Wales.
In a change to the usual format, the judges were allocated their categories before bootcamp,[65] via a phonecall from executive producer Richard Holloway.
Walsh was assisted by Nicole Appleton and Shane Filan along with the returning Sinitta (who's Walsh's assists for the Second Time and Ninth Overall Appearances in the Judges' Houses) when he mentored the Boys in Saint-Tropez, France, in a property worth £10.5 million, next door to a property owned by Nicolas Sarkozy, whose gardeners interrupted filming.
[70] Osbourne took the Over 25s to her own home in Beverly Hills, California,[70] assisted by Robbie Williams; Barlow was assisted by series 6 runner-up and former The Xtra Factor co-presenter Olly Murs to mentor the Groups in New York City; and Scherzinger took the Girls to Antigua with Mary J. Blige,[71] staying at the St James Club resort.
[90] Nile Rodgers and Chic performed a medley of three songs on the fourth live show, in what was billed as a "special edition" of The X Factor.
[94] The sixth live results show featured performances from judge Gary Barlow,[95] who was relaunching his solo career,[96] and Miley Cyrus.
[113] Cowell made an appearance during rehearsals via VT this week and told the final 8 they would be taking part in the 2014 live tour.
[103] As the winner, Sam Bailey received a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music, she went on to join Beyoncé Knowles for one night in Birmingham, on the UK leg of her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2014.
[137] On 24 November, it was revealed that the winner's single, like Arthur's, would be a charity release to raise money for Together for Short Lives, and also the Great Ormond Street Hospital.
[147] The final weekend of auditions saw viewers decrease by around 200,000 on the Saturday,[148] though the next day saw the show reach a new peak audience of 9.42 million, according to overnight figures.
The mash-up video trailer promoting the tenth series was published as a "mash up of all the best a decade of X Factor has to offer" on 25 July 2013.
The trailer consists of various music videos from 13 past contestants: winners Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry, Little Mix and James Arthur, and finalists One Direction, JLS, Olly Murs, Union J, Amelia Lily, Cher Lloyd and Misha B.
[176] However, fans questioned the absence of successful contestants Diana Vickers and Rebecca Ferguson, and winners Steve Brookstein, Leon Jackson and Matt Cardle were also not included.
[181] He praised the return of the audition room but felt that "the producers and [Simon] Cowell evidently weren't confident in the format change and have kept the arena auditions as an extra second round," stating that the Bootcamp stage of the competition could have been used to show "how the acts cope under pressure with a live audience," adding that "the Sunday show feels like a bit of a formality"[181] and "generally the singers who stun us on Saturday will impress again on Sunday.
"[181] Additionally, Fletcher was critical of the format change to bootcamp, saying "The show can be cruel for those taking part, brutal for those who don't make the grade, and its fickleness is nothing compared to the harsh realities of the music industry.
"[182] He wondered if the change was a "desperate attempt to create interest in a series that has performed solidly in the ratings, but without creating any real talking points or memorable moments",[182] and said that "watching Karen Harding, Lydia Lucy and Sheena McHugh get put into the Top 6 and then have the dream of a spot at Judges' Houses snatched away from them felt needlessly mean.
"[183] Contestant Lydia Lucy, who was initially chosen to be in Scherzinger's final six but was replaced by Abi Alton, said, "It still hasn't sunk in.
Simpson said it was unfair that she had far less time to prepare than fellow sing-off contestant Shelley Smith, claiming "They set me up to go out in the first week".
[185] It was reported that Cowell was planning to axe the flash vote after The X Factor was heavily beaten by Strictly Come Dancing in the ratings for the second live show.
Before judges' houses, urban act Code 4 had to drop one of their members, Mark Wyman, after it emerged that he had a criminal record, and a spokesman for The X Factor said, "Unfortunately due to problems in getting a visa Mark was unable to travel to Judges' Houses in America, meaning that he ended up having to leave the band to carry on in the competition as a three piece.
Three-piece band Rough Copy also had to lose member Kazeem "Kaz" Ajobe before the six-chair challenge due to visa problems.
The same had happened to the group in series 9, but this year the other two members, Sterling Ramsay and Joey James, continued without Ajobe and advanced to judges' houses as a duo.
Some viewers also thought it was unfair that Miss Dynamix got an automatic bye to the next week when Foster collapsed before the second live show.
Despite the minimum age of sexual consent in the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies standing at 16, Osbourne then said to McDonald, who was 16 and therefore legal, "Who on earth was that piece of whatever next to you?
"[196] Robin Thicke's performance, which featured a large number of scantily-clad female dancers, also received a total of 317 complaints.
[198] On 16 December, both Gaga and Thicke were cleared of any wrongdoing, with an Ofcom spokesman stating, "We assessed the complaints and concluded there were no grounds to investigate.
"[198] There were technical problems during Sam Bailey's duet performance with Scherzinger,[199] when Jedward's voices could be heard as they completed a microphone test.