The beginning of the judges' houses stage, which sees the remaining 24 acts jet off to glamorous destinations around the world to sing for a place in the live shows. As usual the judges are assisted by industry experts - Simon by One Direction heart-throb Louis Tomlinson, Cheryl by chart star Jess Glynne, Rita by US sensation Meghan Trainor, and Nick by leading producer Mark Ronson. However, unlike in previous years, the hopefuls don't get the news straight away. Instead they have had to wait a few weeks until this weekend, when back in the studio the judges will finally choose their finalists live.

The X Factor (UK) Season 12 Episodes...

• s12e01 - Auditions 1
• s12e02 - Auditions 2
• s12e03 - Auditions 3
• s12e04 - Auditions 4
• s12e05 - Auditions 5
• s12e06 - Auditions 6
• s12e07 - Auditions 7
• s12e08 - Country House Boot Camp 1
• s12e09 - Country House Boot Camp 2
• s12e10 - 6-Chair Challenge 1
• s12e11 - 6-Chair Challenge 2
• s12e12 - 6-Chair Challenge 3
• s12e13 - Judges' Houses 1
• s12e14 - Judges' Houses 2
• s12e15 - Live Show 1
• s12e16 - Live Show 1 Results
• s12e17 - Live Show 2
• s12e18 - Live Show 2 Results
• s12e19 - Live Show 3
• s12e20 - Live Show 3 Results
• s12e21 - Live Show 4
• s12e22 - Live Show 4 Results
• s12e23 - Quarter-Final
• s12e24 - Quarter-Final Results
• s12e25 - Semi-Final
• s12e26 - Semi-Final Results
• s12e27 - The Final
• s12e28 - Final Results

The X Factor (UK) Show Summary

Each X Factor judge is in charge of a different section of singers on the show. The judges do not know what section of the competition they will be in charge of until the audition process has finished. Each judge then has to pick four acts to take forward to the live section of the show. Each week the two acts with the lowest amount of public votes have to sing again in a final showdown after which the judges decide who should be eliminated. Once there are only five acts left remaining it becomes left to the public to decide who should go.