Auditions took place throughout June and July 2010, with Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole returning as judges.

Minogue missed the auditions and bootcamp due to being on maternity leave, so Geri Halliwell, Natalie Imbruglia, Katy Perry, Pixie Lott and Nicole Scherzinger were brought in as guest judges.

This series proved to be highly controversial, with many people complaining about the use of pitch correction software on the broadcast of contestants' auditions, the decision to form two groups out of rejected soloists at bootcamp, the rejection of popular contestant Gamu Nhengu at judges' houses, Cole abstaining to vote against one of her own acts she mentored in week 5 of the live shows and having a final showdown in the semi-final.

Controversy also surrounded contestants Shirlena Johnson, who was axed over fears for her mental health, and Treyc Cohen, who was reported to already have a record deal when the live shows started.

The final was watched by 17.71 million people, making it the highest rated television episode of 2010, and the entire decade, in the UK.

It was confirmed that guest judges would take Minogue's place alongside Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole during the auditions.

The guest judges were Geri Halliwell, Natalie Imbruglia, Katy Perry, Pixie Lott and Nicole Scherzinger.

Brian Friedman returned as creative director, while Ali Tennant and Savan Kotecha were hired as vocal coaches.

However, Tennant's contract was ended before the live shows and was replaced by Yvie Burnett, who worked as vocal coach from series 2–6.

Boys: Over 28s: Groups: Girls: In the first live show on 9 October, Paije Richardson, Treyc Cohen, Wagner and Diva Fever were reinstated as wildcards.

Proceeds were split between production company Syco, co-producer FremantleMedia, broadcaster ITV and phone vote operator Harvest Media.

[105] The first live performance show on 9 October 2010 gained 12.62 million viewers,[103] attaining a 48.5% share of the audience during broadcast.

[136] On 25 August, it was announced that contestant Shirlena Johnson had been asked to leave the show because of concerns over her mental health.

A spokesperson said, "The welfare of contestants is of paramount importance, and for this reason it has been agreed that Shirlena Johnson should not continue in the competition.

[139] More controversy erupted after the News of the World reported that after failing to qualify in 2009, Treyc Cohen signed a management deal with Artimis Music Management Ltd that landed her a recording contract in October that year with Birmingham-based Ajoupa Records and she released a single entitled "A Time to Be Heard".

Nhengu was an early favourite to win and many viewers were upset that Katie Waissel and Cher Lloyd were put through despite stumbling through their performances at judges' houses.

[29] Later in her 2012 autobiography Cheryl: My Story, Cole confessed that she had chosen Waissel for the live shows, claiming that "[Cowell] had spent the past two years drumming into me that we needed acts who would be 'good TV.'...

Due to Cole abstaining from voting against Cohen or Waissel when she was asked second, she was not allowed to send the result to deadlock.

[151] After O'Leary's revelation that producers had rehearsed what would happen if Cole abstained in week 5, allegations were made that the result was rigged to save Waissel, on the producers' assumption that her outlandish performances and growing unpopularity with the public resulted in better ratings and sensational press reports and article releases for the show.

One of the assumptions that viewers believed was part of the presumed rigging was to not have Cole vote last and stop the result from going to deadlock.

[153] Heat printed an apology in their 1 January 2011 issue and accepted that Cowell was unaware of the public votes cast until after the final.

Following Byrne's comments and the accusations by viewers and public supporters of Byrne, Cowell wrote an open letter to the viewers in the Daily Mirror to explain why the final showdown in the semi-final occurred by saying: "It's always our sole intention to try and make the show as entertaining and hopefully exciting every week.

This year we decided to give four contestants a second chance and introduce them as wild card entrants on the first live show.

[159] Series producers claimed post-production work was necessary on the show because of the number of microphones used during filming: "The judges make their decisions at the auditions stage based on what they hear on the day, live in the arena.

[159] In December 2010, it emerged that Ofcom were investigating the show after claims that viewers were being encouraged to purchase songs recorded by guest performers Michael Bublé and Diana Vickers.

[161] Ofcom also received over 2,868 complaints[162] from viewers about "raunchy" dance routines from Rihanna and Christina Aguilera during the final.

[136] In April 2011, Ofcom ruled that there had been no breach of guidelines over the performances, and highlighted that "approximately 2,000" of the complaints were received after the routines were covered by the Daily Mail, and said the newspaper's report featured a number of stills that were "significantly more graphic and close-up" than material broadcast, and that were "taken from a different angle to the television cameras".

[162] In its 7 December 2010 issue, Heat magazine said series 7 of The X Factor had been the best series to date, citing many of the controversies, plus events such as Lloyd singing on a spiral staircase, Wagner's "ludicrous" performances and Walsh likening Richardson to "a little Lenny Henry", as moments that helped make it "the most deliriously, thrilling, controversial and demented yet.

"[164] Before the final, Digital Spy's reality television editor Alex Fletcher listed his five favourite moments from the series.

His favourite moment was Nhengu's elimination, on which he said "No other show can make people so passionate, angry and feel like they really know the programme's stars.