Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora fail to bring in new X Factor viewers

Despite all the promotion leading up to the return of the X Factor, the 12th series kicked off with just 7.11 million viewers on Saturday. This was down from 9 million who watched the 11th series opener last year.

Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora took their places on the judging panel alongside Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Simon Cowell. The new look panel and new presenters, Olly Murs and Caroline Flack, failed to bring in any new viewers to the talent format.

On Sunday, the second audition episode also struggled, attracting just over 6 million viewers. Last night’s episode saw Simon Cowell and the rest of the judges become emotional when 21-year-old Josh Daniel performed an emotional cover of Labrinth’s ‘Jealous’.

For the first time, viewers can choose which category each judge will mentor by voting using selected hashtags on Twitter.

The X Factor continues next weekend on ITV.