Over 11m tune in to X Factor

More than ten million viewers tuned in to the new series of X Factor on Saturday night. At its peak, more than 11 million people watched the ITV talent show - trumping last year's figures of 9.5 million viewers who watched the first episode. The new series saw Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole make her debut as the new judge, replacing Sharon Osbourne who quit after four years on the show. Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh remain on the panel along with Dannii Minogue, who recently revealed she had a difficult relationship with Osbourne. "We weren't friends," said Minogue."We weren't always fighting, but Sharon made it clear that she didn't like me, so she won't be missed. Not by me." In the first episode, Cole left the set when Nikk Mager, an old friend from Popstars: The Rivals, auditioned. Cole, who was a contestant on the show in 2002 and was chosen to become a member of Girls Aloud, said judging him would be "biased" and "weird".

» More on this story... «

ITN | August 18, 2008

Tags:. .me. .episode. .him. .night. .made