[citation needed] Auditions for the series took place between 23 May and 25 June 2012, in Liverpool, London, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle and Cardiff.

", premiered on 30 July, featuring former contestants Lewis, Alexandra Burke, JLS, Murs, One Direction and Little Mix talking about their time on The X Factor and how it had changed their lives.

Within four-and-a-half months of the final, six of the series' finalists—Arthur,[3] Douglas,[4] Henderson,[5] Christopher Maloney,[6] Union J[7] and Lucy Spraggan[8]—had been signed to record labels.

Individuals rumoured to be permanently replacing Rowland included Alesha Dixon, and Rochelle Wiseman and Frankie Sandford.

[16] Former judges Sharon Osbourne,[17] Dannii Minogue,[18] and Cheryl Cole,[19] as well as Katy Perry and Rihanna, were said to have declined the role.

The other towns and cities it visited were Aberystwyth, Bangor, Blackpool, Carlisle, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Middlesbrough, Wakefield, Derby, Norwich, Colchester, Southend-on-Sea and Chatham.

[53] Notable auditionees included Lucy Spraggan,[43] whose self-released single "Last Night", which she performed at her audition, entered the UK Singles Chart at number 11 following the episode broadcast;[54] Britt Love from the band Mini Viva;[55] glamour model and television personality Bianca Gascoigne; TV presenter, stage actor and former Popstars and Pop Idol contestant Hayley Evetts;[56] Big Brother 9 housemate Stephanie McMichael (in the group Poisonous Twin) and singer and former Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack housemate Nathan Fagan-Gayle.

[citation needed] Returning auditionees included Joe Cox, Jade Richards, Melanie McCabe and Carolynne Poole, who all reached judges' houses in series 8.

Contestants had a choice of the following songs to perform: "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)", "Respect", "Moves like Jagger", "Are You Gonna Go My Way", "Crazy in Love", "Next to Me", "She Said", "Use Somebody" and "How to Save a Life".

[68] Barlow was reportedly originally planning to go to Majorca, but changed to Boughton House in Northamptonshire so that he could be close to his wife after the death of their baby.

[70] Rough Copy were originally put through to judges' houses, but were withdrawn from the contest after getting through bootcamp because group member Kazeem "Kaz" Ajobo had a visa application which was being considered by the UK Border Agency.

There had been fears that if he travelled abroad during the judges' houses stage, the Nigerian-born 23-year-old from South London may struggle to re-enter the UK.

[83] On 26 August, it was reported that contestants would be able to perform their own material during the live shows, after original songs proved to be popular with the crowds during the audition stages.

Leona Lewis and Ne-Yo performed on the first results show,[85] while series 7 runner-up Rebecca Ferguson and Taylor Swift appeared on the second.

[128][129] This was confirmed by Simon Cowell on 28 November, who announced that the single would be released on 9 December and that 100% of the profits would go to children's charity Together for Short Lives.

[139][140] The episode in which the final 12 contestants were revealed was watched by an overnight average of 9.46 million viewers, and was beaten by Downton Abbey for the first time.

[149][150] By the sixth live show, Strictly Come Dancing was more than 2 million viewers ahead of The X Factor,[147] and the launch of the twelfth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.

", it features six former The X Factor contestants—winners Lewis, Alexandra Burke and Little Mix, and runners-up JLS, Murs and One Direction—talking about their time on the show and how it changed their lives.

[168] Male winners Steve Brookstein, Shayne Ward, Leon Jackson, Joe McElderry and Matt Cardle were not included.

"[172] During the first auditions episode, broadcast on 18 August, one of the auditionees in Cardiff, Zoe Alexander, a Pink tribute singer, was accused of attempting to "smash" equipment after arguing with the judges.

Executive producer with over four decades of work in television, Richard Holloway, said that every auditionee had a choice of five songs, adding: "All the contestants that go in front of the judges, they're all spoken to by the production team as they have to get all the tracks to play so the conversation takes place between them and us about what they want to sing and they go through their choices and the final decision about what they are going to sing when they walk on the stage is theirs, 100% theirs.

[177] Alexander claims the show's decision to manipulate her image as a Pink copycat led to her infamous onstage breakdown and outrage.

[182] While heavily covered at the time of its initial broadcast in 2012, Alexander's audition and resulting platform have contributed to mounting backlash against the show and her treatment as a contestant.

[183][184][185] Ofcom received 35 complaints about Alison Brunton's audition, in which she performed "The Edge of Glory", from people concerned about the impact on her two children, aged 14 and 16, who were watching from backstage.

"[186] Ofcom also received 34 complaints about the audition of Lorna Bliss, a Britney Spears impersonator who wore a body stocking, saying the programme may have broken guidelines on taste and decency.

As "effing" is an alternative way of saying the explicit word "fucking" and the show was broadcast before the watershed, Scherzinger later apologised on the following episode of The Xtra Factor: "I'm so sorry.

Right after hearing O'Leary's revelation, Barlow, Poole's mentor, slammed his pen on the judges desk, then angrily stood up from his chair, stormed off stage, out of the studio and into his dressing room saying "this is a joke".

[195][99] Several celebrities also vented their fury about the result on Twitter: Barlow's Take That bandmate Howard Donald said: "Joke decision on xfactor tonight kids.

Holloway said in a statement: "We regularly chat to the judges during the show, they don't wear earpieces like Dermot so we have to speak to them on anything from timings to running order changes.

[197] The seventh results show on 18 November attracted controversy when Arthur and Henderson, who were both favourites to win the series, received the fewest public votes.