Simon Cowell has been forced to pull out of The X Factor auditions in east London due to a mystery illness.
The X Factor boss was struck down with the unknown condition leaving him no option but to miss the auditions.
His co-stars Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh carried on the show without him.
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A source told The Sun: “Simon didn’t feel well early in the day so had to have a bit of a slower start to the day than usual.
“But he felt a bit better as Tuesday went on so decided he would attend after all.
“Nicole really stepped up to the plate without Simon there and everyone said she absolutely dominated — but in a good way.”
Auditions kicked off earlier this year and Simon is the third judge to pull out of auditions so far.
Sharon, 64, was forced to pull out of the auditions in Edinburgh after suffering from a bad back.
The fiery judge flew back to Los Angeles to consult her doctor after the pain was so excruciating.
It was then confirmed that singer Alesha Dixon would step in for Sharon temporarily.
An ITV spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, Sharon is suffering from niggling back problems following surgery earlier in the year and will be unable to take part in the Edinburgh auditions.
“Alesha will be guest judging on the panel.”
Meanwhile 39-year-old Nicole was absent from the Manchester auditions and Alesha jumped in once again to fill her spot.
The singer had to pull out of the auditions due to a “diary commitment”.
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An ITV spokesperson told The Sun: “Alesha is guest-judging for the first day of the Manchester auditions as Nicole is unable to film that day due to a previous diary commitment.”
A source added: “Everyone is gutted that Nicole won’t be joining them, but Alesha has a wealth of experience from her role on BGT and her own pop career so will do a great job filling in.”
The talent show is set to be back on our screens later this year for its 13th series.
It was revealed that Simon, 57, decided to keep the panel the same as last year because the “chemistry was perfect”.
A source told The Sun: “The chemistry was perfect last year, so it’s only natural to want to bring the same line-up together again.
“It’s usually hard to get people’s schedules to align but for the first year it worked out.
“The judges can’t wait to get started and have already been gossiping behind the scenes.”
But not everything will be staying the same.
The show is apparently set to be having a complete image overhaul.
According to reports Simon has decided he wants to stir things up again in order to win back some viewers.
And one of those changes is that he wants more eliminations.
Which means acts could leave on the Saturdays as well as the Sundays.
A source told The Sun: “The Saturday night show became so tedious as there was rarely any drama which an eviction would bring.
“ITV believes transforming it is the right decision.
“It means all singers will perform on both Saturday and Sunday evenings, with acts being eliminated both nights.”
There are also plans to do auditions at Thorpe Park because producers think a unique location will create some funny footage.
You definitely won’t want to miss this series.