The X Factor: Celebrity
The X Factor: Celebrity is a British celebrity special edition of The X Factor which premiered on 12 October 2019 on ITV. It is a revamped version of the 2006 celebrity format . Simon Cowell, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh judged this series, with Dermot O'Leary presenting the series and Vick Hope hosting Xtra Bites on YouTube.
The format for the series was announced in 2019, after The X Factor was contracted until 2020. The celebrity lineup was announced on 30 September 2019. On 30 November, Megan McKenna won the series with 46.3% of the vote, with Max and Harvey finishing in second place and Jenny Ryan in third place.
Background
The series' predecessor, aired in 2006 as a celebrity incarnation of The X Factor. It was reported on 26 August 2006 that Cowell had axed Battle of the Stars, describing it as "pointless" and adding "we are never going to do it again." However, Cowell later stated in an interview with The Sun on 30 November 2018 that he would consider reviving the show for a second series as a charity special.The series was first reported in early 2019, as the main series is being put on hiatus due to declining ratings. On 7 July 2019, Walsh spoke about the return of the series, stating, "I go to Los Angeles on Tuesday, I go to Simon’s house in Malibu, it’s me, Simon and Nicole, we’re doing the celebrity one." On 22 October 2019, it was revealed that Vick Hope would host Xtra Bites on YouTube, each episode will be aired after each live show.
The format of the series differs heavily than Battle of the Stars to bring it more in line with the main series. Notable differences between this series and Battle of the Stars are instead of competing for charity, the acts are competing to win a record contract with Syco Music, and the live shows, instead of being aired daily, are aired every Saturday night, allowing more time inbetween shows for the acts to develop their artistry.
Acts
A teaser, released in September 2019, teased the potential contestants of the series, of which include: a film star, model, online influencers, professional dancer, social media stars and a soap star. The full line-up was revealed on 30 September 2019. Cowell mentored the Groups, Walsh mentored the Under 31s and Scherzinger mentored the Over 31s.Key:
| Act | Age | Hometown | Category | Known For | Result |
| Megan McKenna | 27 | Barking, England | Under 31s | Television personality | Winner |
| Max and Harvey | 16 | Sandhurst, England | Groups | YouTube personalities | Runner-up |
| Jenny Ryan | 37 | Bolton, England | Over 31s | Quizzer & The Chase star | 3rd place |
| V5 | 18–21 | / / / / | Groups | Social media influencers | 4th place |
| Try Star | 21–34 | Birmingham /  Harare, Zimbabwe / Chester | Groups | Rugby union players | 5th place |
| Vinnie Jones | 54 | Watford, England | Over 31s | Actor & former Premier League footballer | 6th place |
| Kevin McHale | 31 |  Plano, Texas, U.S. | Under 31s | Glee actor | 7th place |
| No Love Lost | 21–24 | Essex / London / Staffordshire | Groups | Love Island stars | 8th place |
| Martin Bashir | 56 | Wandsworth, England | Over 31s | Journalist & news anchor | 9th place |
| Jonny Labey | 26 |  Grouville, Jersey | Under 31s | Former EastEnders actor | 10th place |
| Victoria Ekanoye | 36 | Bury, England | Over 31s | Former Coronation Street actress | 11th place |
| Olivia Olson | 27 | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Under 31s | Actress | 12th place |
| Ricki Lake | 51 | Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S. | Over 31s | Hairspray actress & former talk show host | 13th place |
| Hayley Hasselhoff | 27 | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | Under 31s | Actress & model | Eliminated in the auditions |
| Cole and Edwards | 43 & 48 |  Christchurch, New Zealand London, England | Groups | Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Former Hollyoaks actor | Eliminated in the auditions |
Auditions
The audition process took place in Los Angeles, California. The celebrity acts were all asked to meet with O'Leary in a location where they then spent two days with the production team working on vocal training and song choices. They then auditioned for Cowell, Walsh and Scherzinger at a house party in Malibu consisting of various singers, songwriters, record producers and talent judges for the acts to perform in front of.Some of the guest judges that the celebrities got to perform in front of were as follows:
Vinnie Jones, who was due to take part in the show, was unable to fly to Los Angeles for his audition due to the death of his wife Tanya Terry on 6 July 2019. Cowell personally called Jones two months later and offered him an unconditional place in the live shows.
Live shows
Results summary
;Colour key- Cowell was not required to vote as there was already a majority.
- Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority but confirmed that he would have voted to eliminate Try Star.
- The voting percentages in the Final's Second Vote do not add up to 100%, owing to the freezing of votes. V5 received 4.2% of the final vote.
Week 1 (26 October)
- Theme: Express Yourself
| Act | Category | Order | Song | Result |
| Kevin McHale | Under 31s | 1 | "Good as Hell" | Safe |
| Ricki Lake | Over 31s | 2 | "Landslide" | Eliminated |
| No Love Lost | Groups | 3 | "All or Nothing" | Safe |
| Jenny Ryan | Over 31s | 4 | "Rise Like a Phoenix" | Saved by Scherzinger |
| Jonny Labey | Under 31s | 5 | "Show Me Love" | Saved by Walsh |
| V5 | Groups | 6 | "Bad Guy"/"Taki Taki" | Safe |
| Martin Bashir | Over 31s | 7 | "Danke Schoen" | Bottom three |
| Max and Harvey | Groups | 8 | "When Will I Be Famous?" | Safe |
| Olivia Olson | Under 31s | 9 | "Anyone Who Had a Heart" | Eliminated |
| Vinnie Jones | Over 31s | 10 | "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" | Safe |
| Megan McKenna | Under 31s | 11 | "This" | Safe |
| Victoria Ekanoye | Over 31s | 12 | "Never Tear Us Apart" | Safe |
| Try Star | Groups | 13 | "Pony"/"Old Town Road" | Saved by Cowell |
;Judges' votes to eliminate
- Walsh: Martin Bashir - backed his own act, Olivia Olson.
- Scherzinger: Olivia Olson - backed her own act, Martin Bashir.
- Cowell: Olivia Olson - concluded that the public would like to see Bashir through to next week more.
Week 2 (2 November)
- Musical Guest: James Arthur
| Act | Category | Order | Song | Result |
| Jonny Labey | Under 31s | 1 | "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" | Eliminated |
| Jenny Ryan | Over 31s | 2 | "This Is My Life" | Safe |
| No Love Lost | Groups | 3 | "Would I Lie to You?" | Saved by Cowell |
| Victoria Ekanoye | Over 31s | 4 | "Why Don't You Love Me" | Eliminated |
| Max and Harvey | Groups | 5 | "Cool" | Safe |
| Kevin McHale | Under 31s | 6 | "Dance Monkey" | Saved by Walsh |
| Try Star | Groups | 7 | "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" | Saved by Scherzinger |
| Martin Bashir | Over 31s | 8 | "Easy" | Bottom three |
| V5 | Groups | 9 | "Despacito"/"Mi Gente" | Safe |
| Vinnie Jones | Over 31s | 10 | "Lip Up Fatty" | Safe |
| Megan McKenna | Under 31s | 11 | "Stronger" | Safe |
;Judges' votes to eliminate
- Walsh: Martin Bashir - backed his own act, Jonny Labey.
- Scherzinger: Jonny Labey - backed her own act, Martin Bashir.
- Cowell abstained from voting as he wanted to hear the public's opinion so chose to take it to deadlock.
Week 3 (9 November)
;Judges' votes to eliminate- Walsh: No Love Lost - based his decision on whom he thought would sell more records.
- Scherzinger: No Love Lost - said that she liked V5 more consistently throughout the competition.
- Cowell was not required to vote as there was already a majority and did not say how he would have voted as both were his own acts. However, in response to No Love Lost's elimination, he said that he would organise a public vote to bring back one of the eliminated acts for the final.
Week 4: Quarter-Final (16 November)
- Musical Guest: Lizzo
This is also the only live show with one contestant going home.
Shortly before the judges voted, Jones announced that he did not wish to obstruct McHale's progress and requested to withdraw.
;Judges' votes to eliminate
- Scherzinger: Kevin McHale - backed her own act, Vinnie Jones.
- Walsh: Vinnie Jones - backed his own act, Kevin McHale.
- Cowell: Kevin McHale - Disregarded Jones’ request to withdraw and said he was going with his heart, believing that Jones still had a chance of winning the competition.
Week 5: Semi-Final (23 November)
- Theme: Movies
- Musical Guest: Louis Tomlinson
;Judges' votes to eliminate
- Scherzinger: Try Star - opted to save V5 as she was “all about girl power”.
- Cowell: Try Star - commended Try Star on their overall progress in the competition as they had not been singers before, but ultimately felt that V5 had a better chance of being successful outside the show.
- Walsh was not required to vote as there was already a majority and did not say how he would have voted.
Week 6: Final (30 November)
- Theme: Christmas; Song of the Series
- Musical guest: The Pussycat Dolls
| Act | Category | Order | Song | Order | Song | Result |
| V5 | Groups | 1 | "All I Want for Christmas Is You" | N/A | N/A | Fourth place |
| Jenny Ryan | Over 31s | 2 | "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" | 6 | "The Edge of Glory" | Third place |
| Max and Harvey | Groups | 3 | "Last Christmas" | 7 | "Kiss You" | Runner-up |
| Megan McKenna | Under 31s | 4 | "One More Sleep" | 5 | "This" | Winner |
Following the announcement that McKenna had won, she performed her winner's single, "It Must Have Been Love".