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The X Factor 2018: what did viewers make of the new judges?

The X Factor 2018: what did viewers make of the new judges?

How did Robbie Williams, Ayda Field and Louis Tomlinson go down on the first show of the series?

The X Factor 2018 judges: Robbie Williams, Ayda Field, Louis Tomlinson and Simon Cowell

James Gill

Published: Saturday, 8 September 2018 at 12:20 pm

The X Factor 2018 is up and running, and viewers have had a first look at Simon Cowell's rebooted judging panel in action.

Louis Tomlinson, Robbie Williams and Ayda Field joined Simon for the first show on Saturday night, and while Robbie had an early chance to strut his stuff when one of the acts decided to sing one of his songs, all three judges had their moment.

But what did viewers think of the new line-up? Check out some of the best responses below. The X Factor continues this Sunday at 8pm on ITV.

The X Factor hits peak Robbie Williams on day one – but can the new judges keep viewers coming back?
8 things you need to know about the new X Factor

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Louis Tomlinson fans out in force

If The X Factor wanted to lure in a younger generation, it could only go in One Direction. Louis Tomlinson is a reminder of the show's biggest success story, and fans were cheering his debut judging appearance from the off.

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Although 1D fans were slightly miffed when Louis admitted he thought the band name One Direction was "corny".

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It's early days, but Louis Tomlinson may be just the replacement X Factor needs for the *other* Louis.

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Although some people still miss the original...

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Robbie Williams gets a lot of love and affection

"One episode in and we’ve already hit peak Robbie: Angels is his best-loved hit and the ‘unexpected’ duet has now happened," RadioTimes.com reviewer Paul Jones wrote after the opening episode, and he's not wrong. Where does the show go next?

Maybe it doesn't matter – at least his not-so-impromptu performance had the nation singing from the same hymn sheet.

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But what about the third member of the band, Ayda Field?

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She was easily the most controversial choice ahead of the series, and viewers weren't exactly sold on the idea when she was introduced simply as "Robbie's wife" in the first episode.

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And when she and Robbie starting dancing to one of the acts, many people found it, well... a bit much.

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Ayda's already said that she knows she'll have to win people over. Will Sunday's episode give her more of a chance to prove herself?

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Simon's selections did come in for one major criticism though, with one viewer pointing out the lack of diversity on the panel compared to previous years.

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For more reaction to the new panel and The X Factor's return, click here.

Authors

James Gill

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