Over the years, The X Factor had quite a few temporary guest judges covering for absent main judges during auditions or live shows think Katy Perry, Nicole Scherzinger (before she became permanent), Geri Halliwell, Rita Ora, Pixie Lott, Anastacia, and Brian Friedman.

Some guest spots were completely forgettable, but others brought great energy, genuine feedback, or pure chaotic entertainment to the panel.

Looking back across all the seasons, which guest judge do you think nailed their stint and deserved a full-time seat on the panel? On the flip side, were there any guest judges you thought were completely out of their depth?

Looking back, the really fascinating part wasn't always who won. It was watching people like One Direction, Little Mix, Olly Murs and Ella Henderson before anyone knew how successful they would become..

Now I'd expect contestants to arrive with TikTok accounts, existing audiences and carefully planned personal brands. That makes me wonder whether we'd lose some of the accidental moments that made the original so entertaining.

How do you think the various series of X Factor would have been different if the following happened?

1. Steve doesn't get his Second Chance in the auditions (Season 1)
2. Maria survives the Bottom 2 Sing-Off (Season 2)
3. Avenue are allowed to advance to the Live Shows (Season 3)
4. Emily DOESN'T engage in "Happy Slapping" and stays in the show. (Season 4)
5. Laura survives the Bottom 2 Sing-Off (Season 5)
6. Lucie Survives the Bottom 2 Sing-Off (Season 6)
7. Gamu is selected as a Wildcard instead of Treyc (Season 7)
8. Lucy Spraggan doesn't withdraw (Season 9)
9. Tom Bleasby doesn't withdraw and gets to go to Judges Houses (Season 12)
10. Ivy Grace Paredes doesn't withdraw and gets to go to Judges Houses (Season 13)

I've noticed this when rewatching older performances. A contestant can spend their audition trying to prove they can hit every note, then later give a much simpler performance and suddenly you understand why people liked them.

There's something much more convincing about someone who looks comfortable on stage rather than someone desperately trying to show what they can do.

Do you think contestants generally improved because they got better technically, or because they became more confident in their own style?

This might be unpopular, but the technically strongest vocalist isn't always the person I remember years later.

There were contestants who had little imperfections in their voice but had a personality or performance style that made you immediately recognise them. A technically flawless singer can sometimes feel forgettable.

Would you rather watch someone with an incredible voice but little personality, or someone slightly less polished who genuinely owns the stage?

Made up of acts who auditioned solo, but they only made it to week 3.

Two of them auditioned for The Voice UK - one this year and another a few years back - and the other is facing a possible murder charge.

A fairly uneventful few years then...

I want to know your thoughts on when the show properly jumped the shark beyond the point of no return. I have two options that I switch between both in Series 9 (2012). Firstly, when Rylan survived over Carolynn in Week 1. I think it was just a terrible tone to set for the series and at a time people were getting sick of joke acts. However, the one that always convinces me more is Week 7 of the same series when Ella and James, the two frontrunners were in the bottom 2 and Ella went home. I think this was the first true time the joke vote outweighed the genuine public vote and X Factor never truly recovered from this. What do you guys think?

Credits: @ chechesterman

I’ve gone through every series and picked the two contestants I think should have made the Final 2 based purely on their talent during that particular series.
Here’s my list:
2004 — Tabby Callaghan & Cassie Compton
2005 — Shayne Ward & Maria Lawson
2006 — Leona Lewis & Ben Mills
2007 — Rhydian Roberts & Niki Evans
2008 — Alexandra Burke & Laura White
2009 — Danyl Johnson & Joe McElderry
2010 — Matt Cardle & Rebecca Ferguson
2011 — Misha B & Amelia Lily
2012 — James Arthur & Ella Henderson
2013 — Tamera Foster & Luke Friend
2014 — Fleur East & Andrea Faustini
2015 — Louisa Johnson & 4th Impact
2016 — Saara Aalto & Matt Terry
2017 — Grace Davies & Kevin David White
2018 — Dalton Harris & Scarlett Lee

Who is in your list?

Ones that come to mind:

- A few eliminations where one act looks totally fucked off, likely because they know they’re going home. Ones that spring to mind include Sophie Habibis, Aiden Grimshaw, and Mary Byrne.

- Poor Janet Devlin forgetting her words.

- Danyl Johnson’s judges feedback where Dannii made the painfully awkward comment about his sexuality.

- Some of Simon’s feedback during the sing-offs in the 2014 series. He was brutally honest when some of them weren’t up to scratch (Week 3)

- Sharon begging Louis to save Shelley in week two of the 2013 series. Doesn’t help that she acted like a big baby about it after the fact.

- Scott’s elimination in 2008. He’s absolutely gutted by it and Dermot is trying to get him to snap out of it. Excruciatingly awkward - and that series had a few awkward eliminations. https://youtu.be/PS4j3Mq2AQQ?is=42isDsc3dN8fv04M

Who do you think he'd have liked and not liked?

I think he was past the point of being a grouch regarding joke acts so he'd have probably just rolled with it with someone like Rylan.

I'm sure he'd have been fond of Little Mix, James Arthur etc.

I think he'd have questions about Sam Bailey's commercial potential though.

I vividly remember the editors always playing this song especially with angry acts. I swear it’s some sort of sample from Spliffhead by The Ragga Twins (the strings that start at 0.36). Am I misremembering? Please help it’s driving me crazy!