The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The thirteenth series began airing on ITV on Saturday 27 August 2016 and ended on Sunday 11 December 2016. Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV for the ninth time to replace Olly Murs and Caroline Flack, who left after series 12. Simon Cowell was the only judge from the 12th series to return; Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh all returned, replacing Rita Ora, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Nick Grimshaw. Matt Edmondson and Rylan Clark-Neal replaced Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom as hosts of The Xtra Factor, which was rebranded as The Xtra Factor Live and was broadcast live twice every week, with Roman Kemp making appearances as a digital presenter and social media reporter. Matt Terry was announced the winner on 11 December 2016, making Scherzinger the winning mentor for the second time. Saara Aalto finished second.

Judges and presenters

On 18 February 2016, series 12 judge Nick Grimshaw announced that he would not come back for another series on the judging panel. On 5 April 2016, it was confirmed that Cheryl would not return as a judge. Rita Ora confirmed she was leaving the judging panel on 10 May 2016. On the same day, it was reported that former judges Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh may return to join Simon Cowell on the judging panel to collectively replace Ora, Cheryl and Grimshaw. Walsh confirmed he had signed a contract on 15 May 2016. The judging line-up was officially confirmed as Cowell, Walsh, Osbourne and Scherzinger on 1 June 2016.

On 22 February 2016, during an interview with The Sun, Olly Murs, who had co-hosted the previous series with Caroline Flack, confirmed his decision to quit the series to focus on his music. In a statement, Murs stated, "This was an incredibly hard decision to make and one I didn't take lightly as I've really enjoyed co-hosting The X Factor." Following Murs' decision to exit the series, Flack confirmed she would exit as well, stating, "I have had a brilliant time working on The X Factor over the last few years, and hosting the main show was just fantastic – I made some amazing friends." On 29 March 2016, it was confirmed that Dermot O'Leary would return to present The X Factor on ITV for the ninth time, after having quit the previous year, and said he was "very flattered to be asked back". For series 12, O'Leary was replaced by Murs and Flack, but the viewing numbers fell and O'Leary was asked back. Richard Holloway, boss of Thames, said he was "a much-loved part of The X Factor and one of the best presenters in the business", while Kevin Lygo, ITV's Director of TV, said he was "an important part of the ITV family". On 27 June 2016, it was confirmed that Matt Edmondson will be the new host of The Xtra Factor replacing Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom. On 1 July 2016, it was confirmed that Rylan Clark-Neal will co-host alongside Edmondson, and that Capital FM DJ Roman Kemp would be a digital presenter and social media reporter. Mel B joined the panel for one day of London auditions in lieu of Scherzinger. Osbourne was absent in the Edinburgh auditions and was not replaced by a guest judge.

Selection process

Auditions The minimum age to audition this year was 16. Contestants needed three or more 'yeses' from the four judges to progress to Bootcamp.

Mobile auditions In addition to the producers' auditions, the "Mobile Audition Tour" took place throughout the UK and Ireland. Auditions ran between 7 March and 30 April 2016, and visited Skegness, Sheffield, Aberdeen, Peterborough, Telford, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Sunderland, Nottingham, Middlesbrough, Leicester, Coventry, Ipswich, Scarborough, Chelmsford, Northampton, Southend-on-Sea, Hull, Milton Keynes, Essex, York, Isle of Man, Swindon, Portsmouth, Bognor Regis, Bristol, Blackpool, Preston, Weston-Super-Mare, Brighton, Newquay, Wigan, Truro, Hastings, Exeter, Margate, Yeovil and Maidstone.

Open auditions Producers auditions commenced on 7 April in Glasgow and ended on 14 May in Liverpool. Audition city Open audition date Open audition venue Glasgow 7 April 2016 Hampden Park Birmingham 9–10 April 2016 St Andrew's Cardiff 17 April 2016 Holland House Dublin 24 April 2016 RDS Arena Newcastle upon Tyne 27 April 2016 St James' Park London 1 May 2016 ExCeL London Manchester 7 May 2016 EventCity Liverpool 14 May 2016 ACC Liverpool

Judges' auditions

Originally, the format for auditions was announced to return to that of series 10 and 11, with both room auditions and consequent arena auditions before bootcamp. However, the arena auditions were scrapped at the end of June, towards the end of the filming of the room auditions. The auditions started on 10 June in Leicester and continued in Manchester on 13 June. The next auditions took place on 17 June in London where Mel B was a guest judge in place of Scherzinger, while Scherzinger had other commitments. Contestant Philip Hadlow did not progress to Bootcamp, but judged one audition in Walsh's place. Subsequent auditions were held in London on 19 June, with Scherzinger returning, before moving to Edinburgh on 23 June and Dublin on 1 July. Selected auditions were broadcast over seven episodes, between 27 August and 17 September 2016.

Notable auditionees this series included Rebekah Ryan, who had UK chart success in the 1990s as an independent artist and previously auditioned in series 4, reaching bootcamp, Saara Aalto, who was the runner-up on series 1 of The Voice of Finland, and actor Will Rush.

+Summary of judges' auditions City Date(s) Venue Changes to judging line-up Leicester 10 June 2016 King Power Stadium rowspan="2" Manchester 13–14 June 2016 Old Trafford Cricket Ground London 17 June 2016 ExCeL London Mel B (in lieu of Nicole Scherzinger) 18–19 June 2016 Edinburgh 23 June 2016 Assembly Rooms Sharon Osbourne absent Dublin 1 July 2016 Croke Park rowspan="2" London 6 July 2016 Alexandra Palace

Bootcamp Bootcamp took place at Alexandra Palace from 6 to 8 July 2016. It was broadcast in a single episode on 18 September 2016. The contestants all chose a song from a wall with sheets of paper attached. Each song appeared three times and the three acts who picked the same song would perform that song as a group. Immediately after each performance, the judges would either put the acts through or eliminate them immediately. 121 acts were successful in this part, and the judges then deliberated to cut the number of contestants down further, to decide who would reach the six-chair challenge. At the end of Bootcamp, the judges discovered which categories they would mentor: Scherzinger was given the Boys, Cowell was given the Girls, Osbourne was given the Over 25s and Walsh was given the Groups.

Six-chair challenge The six-chair challenge took place from 9 to 12 July, at The SSE Arena, Wembley. It was broadcast over two episodes on 24 and 25 September. Scherzinger and Cowell chose their top six acts during Saturday's show, while Osbourne and Walsh picked their acts during Sunday's show.

Judges' houses Filming for judges' houses took place in late August and early/mid September. The locations and guest judges were officially confirmed on 21 September 2016. Walsh was assisted in Ibiza by Fleur East and Alesha Dixon, Cowell went to Malibu with Mel B and Emma Bunton, Osbourne went to her Los Angeles home where she was joined by Robbie Williams, and Scherzinger went to Nice with Calvin Harris. Ivy Grace Paredes, who was originally selected as one of Osbourne's over-25s at the six-chair challenge, withdrew from the competition because her visa would not be issued in time, and she was replaced by Honey G. Four more acts were chosen as wildcards to go to judges' houses. Walsh chose Samantha Lavery for Cowell, Cowell chose Ryan Lawrie for Scherzinger, Scherzinger chose Saara Aalto for Osbourne and Osbourne chose Yes Lad for Walsh.

The judges houses episodes were broadcast on 1 and 2 October 2016.

Judges Houses Performances

Boys: Matt: "She's Out of My Life" James H: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" Freddy: "Love Me Like You Do" Niall: "2 Become 1" Ryan: "You Make My Dreams" Christian: "How to Save a Life" Nate: "Summertime"

Girls: Emily: "Ex's and Oh's" Samantha L: "Make It Rain" Gifty: "This Girl" Kayleigh: "Who You Are" Caitlyn: "Praying for Time" Soheila: "Genie in a Bottle" Olivia: "Sometimes"

Groups: 5AM: "She's Got That Vibe" Tom & Laura: "Up Where We Belong" Bradley & Ottavio: "Candyman" Yes Lad: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" Four of Diamonds: "Royals" (wildcard) The Brooks: "Just a Dream" Skarl3t: "Hey Ya!"

Over 25s Saara: "The Winner Takes It All" Honey G: "Gangsta's Paradise" Relley C: "Up to the Mountain" Peyton: "Movin' On Up" Samantha A: "Tears" James W: "Make You Feel My Love" Janet: "Ordinary World"

+Summary of judges' houses Judge Category Location Assistants Acts Eliminated Simon Cowell Girls Malibu Mel B and Emma Bunton Soheila Clifford, Olivia Garcia, Kayleigh Marie Morgan, Caitlyn Vanbeck Sharon Osbourne Over 25s Los Angeles Robbie Williams Samantha Atkinson, Janet Grogan, Christopher Peyton, James Wilson Nicole Scherzinger Boys Southern France Calvin Harris Christian Burrows, James Hughes, Niall Sexton, Nate Simpson Louis Walsh Groups Ibiza Fleur East and Alesha Dixon Skarl3t, Tom and Laura, Yes Lad

Acts Key: – Winner – Runner-Up – Withdrew

ActAge(s)HometownCategory (mentor)ResultMatt Terry23KentBoys (Scherzinger)WinnerSaara Aalto29Oulunsalo, FinlandOver 25s (Osbourne)Runner-Up5 After Midnight20–23East LondonGroups (Walsh)3rd PlaceEmily Middlemas18GlasgowGirls (Cowell)4th PlaceHoney G35HarrowOver 25s (Osbourne)5th PlaceRyan Lawrie20CoatbridgeBoys (Scherzinger)6th PlaceSam Lavery17County DurhamGirls (Cowell)7th PlaceFour of Diamonds17–22SouthamptonGroups (Walsh)8th PlaceGifty Louise20Ghana / LondonGirls (Cowell)9th PlaceRelley C27BirminghamOver 25s (Osbourne)10th PlaceFreddy Parker18AshfordBoys (Scherzinger)11th PlaceBrooks Way17CardiffGroups (Walsh)12th PlaceBratavio23 & 25Leamington Spa & SouthamptonGroups (Walsh)13th Place

Live shows The live shows began on 8 October 2016, with the performance shows taking place on Saturday night and the results show airing on Sunday night. On 1 October, it was revealed that all the groups would undergo name changes. The new names were revealed as Bratavio (Bradley & Ottavio), Brooks Way (The Brooks) and 5 After Midnight (5AM). The live shows were all filmed at Fountain Studios in London, apart from the live final and final results show, which were filmed at Wembley Arena. This was the last series to be filmed at Fountain Studios, and the semi-final results show and the following episode of The Xtra Factor were the last programmes to be recorded in the studios before its demolition.

New for this series, the first five results shows revealed the acts in the bottom three of the votes, and there was then a second round of 'flash votes' which lasted approximately four minutes, with voting only available via the official The X Factor mobile app. The act who topped this vote avoided the sing-off. Also new, the theme for each week, excluding week 1, is randomly selected via a "jukebox wheel" at the end of the previous week's show, which is spun by O'Leary (apart from week 6, when it was spun by Ant & Dec, during a live link-up from Australia). Themes include "Disco", "Movies", "Fright Night", "80s", "Divas", "Motown", "Girlband vs Boyband" and "Louis loves"—named after Louis Walsh. During the sixth live show, it was revealed that viewers would have a chance to suggest a theme for the jukebox. During the seventh live results show, the new theme was revealed as "Christmas".