The X Factor judges have insisted they're not worried about winning back viewers after last year's rollercoaster ratings.
The X Factor is back. Yes, it did go away (Picture: ITV)
Tulisa Contostavlos insisted there was no ratings crisis after boss Simon Cowell was left 'unhappy' with the show's performance last year.
She and fellow judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Kelly Rowland – replaced this year by Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger – were left feeling the heat when he threatened to return from the US to fix the show.
But a buoyant Tulisa said: 'When you've got millions and millions of viewers and you drop down 1million and go back up a million, it doesn't mean that the show is in crisis.
'It's changed very much over the years and the viewers have fluctuated and it's still the biggest show second to the royal wedding.
'So that in itself just shows me. I'm not worried about it at all.'
But the judges found themselves fire-fighting 'fix' claims even before tomorrow's first episode hits our screens.
The singing contest was forced to defend new rules after it emerged that some contestants were allowed to enter even if they already had managers.
Tulisa defended the latest twist following past accusations of Cowell 'grooming' polished acts to enter on both X Factor and Britain's Got Talent.
She said: 'What people forget is just because someone has experience in the music business, it doesn't mean they are any less deserving to be on the show than a normal person who hasn't had any experience.'
Someone having a manager 'doesn't mean it is going to be any easier' on the show for them, she added. Tulisa also insisted: 'No one gets told what to sing.'
The show's host, Dermot O'Leary, added: 'Every singer comes with five songs prepared.' Contestants speak to the production team to sort their CDs but have a '100 per cent' say on what they sing, he added.
X Factor's executive producer Richard Holloway was also on the back foot after it emerged one contestant on the first episode is given a second change to sing after fluffing her first effort.
He told a press conference that the show's contestants 'all go through exactly the same process'.
Cowell's shows will dominate ITV's Saturday night offering for close to three hours as the channel begins a fightback against the BBC's Olympics coverage.
The X Factor, which starts at 8pm, is sandwiched in primetime between Cowell's betting show Red Or Black? at 7.15pm and The Jonathan Ross Show at 10pm, with Olympic superstars Usain Bolt, Tom Daley and Jessica Ennis.
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