For the first time in seven years, the judging panel remained the same as the previous series, with Nicole Scherzinger, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh returning.
[3] Its replacement is a programme called Xtra Bites presented by Becca Dudley on the ITV Hub.
In December 2016, Louis Walsh confirmed he would continue to judge the series through 2018, stating he had signed through "the next two years".
[10] Five days later, on 28 June, it was announced that Dixon would once again appear as a guest judge, this time for Osbourne, who was unavailable due to a long-standing back injury.
[12] On 29 October 2017, Dixon reappeared as a guest judge on the Sunday live show, this time filling in for Cowell, who was absent recovering from an injury during the weekend.
[citation needed] Bootcamp was filmed live at The SSE Arena, Wembley in front of a studio audience.
[20][21][22] Anthony Russell withdrew after the pre-recorded sections of the show and was replaced by Sam Black who was knocked out of the competition at the Bootcamp stage.
[23] In a statement, Walsh stated, "Anthony has been fantastic across the series, a great singer and performer who we are really sad to see go.
"[24] At the end of judges' houses, it was announced that the public could vote for a wildcard from each category bringing the total number of contestants for the live shows to 16.
Each show, two of the categories would sing and immediately after the performances, the public vote would open for a short amount of time.
[27] The two acts who won their respective public vote would then sing against each other in a new element of the show called the prize fight.
[28] For the first time ever the live final was broadcast from the Excel Centre, London and not Wembley Arena as part of the show's drastic changes this series.
[55] O'Leary confirmed that there would be no Prize Fight from this week onwards and all the categories would perform on the same night for the first time this series.
[50] All proceeds from the winner's single are in aid of children's hospice charities, Together for Short Lives and Shooting Star Chase.