Sarah Watson

The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series commenced airing on ITV on 20 August 2011 and ended on 11 December 2011. The winner was Little Mix, a four-piece girl group known earlier in the series as Rhythmix, consisting of members Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jade Thirlwall. They became the first act in the groups category to win in the UK show's history with new judge Tulisa emerging as their winning mentor. Dermot O'Leary presented the main show on ITV, while Caroline Flack and series 6 runner-up Olly Murs co-presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, replacing Konnie Huq from the previous year. Louis Walsh returned to the judging panel and was joined by Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. Barlow, Rowland and Tulisa joined the panel as replacements for former judges, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole. Series 5 winner Alexandra Burke served as a guest judge for week 4 of the live shows due to Rowland having a throat infection. On 4 August 2011, promotional pictures of the judges surfaced across the internet. The next day, an advertisement premiered on itv.com. The show's opening titles were replaced with a completely revamped title sequence during the live shows to match those of its then-recently launched American counterpart. The final night episode of the show was marked as the Irish pop group Westlife's last live television performance together before the band split on 23 June 2012 until 2018. The eighth series won Most Popular Talent Show at the 17th National Television Awards on 25 January 2012.

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