So she gets a free pass to next week? Nice one!

It would yeah, not sure why they haven't done it that way instead.


They probably could if they had to (they've got plenty of material for the VTs this week with the Robbie Williams masterclass and the Skyfall premiere) but they've obviously chosen not to for some reason.

Yep, she gets a free pass to next week. Great week for her, she went out partying, had loads of fun and gets a free pass to next week's show without singing a note.

whilst I cant comment on why she cant sing, they must like her, if the are giving her a free pass, even more so, if its due to wild parties.

they could have replaced her with two other people who sing, I type of course, about Jedward. Not being able to sing, never stop them.

Yes definitley, this gives merlin a headstart and that five minutes for floating viewers to find something else...

No itv Bashing lol. about 90% of posts do bash ITV. It seems to me they can't do anything right for example if they move X Factor away from Come Dancing they get called chicken if they don't they're trying to dent it.

not sure about your examples, have to say don't ITV bash myself, do Cowell-bash, the man is everything that is bad about modern culture.

TXF (I don't watch it) started at 8.26pm after a long IACGMOOH trailer.
Lucy Spreggan is ill and has been given a free pass to next week (you can imagine how that will go down on the forums).

The singing contest where you can progress to the next round without singing a note. That's a good one, that. Just when you thought the whole thing couldn't possibly get any more farcical!

On a more serious note, what sort of message does that send out to the young & impressionable bracket of the audience? It's okay to go out and get ****faced even if you have important responsibilities the next day, they can easily be put off. We've all been there, even primetime TV stars.

Irresponsible can be added to the very long list of things that are wrong with the damaged brand that is X Factor UK. All anyone associated with this poor excuse for entertainment can do is pray that the weather gods have done enough to steady the ship a bit. Can't rule out a small boost either in these fairly brutal weather conditions for the time of year but you'd struggle to find a positive audience turnaround less deserved, if so. As ever in these kind of situations, the audience share percentage might tell us a bit more.

We're not getting the excuses in early are we ??

With tonight's weather likely to boost TV audiences considerably, it's very possible you are overstating the effect of a delay so small it's hardly even worth a mention.

No, but lets not forget much of the XF audience are at Halloween parties or down the cinema watching 007 tonight

God, someone's in a good mood! All of the contestants went out on Wednesday (so did two of the judges) - Lucy has gotten ill since then and has been told not to perform by doctors - surely it would have been more irresponsible of the producers to let her perform against medical advice? They had to give her a by as that is the rule - if a contestant is ruled as unable to perform in one week by medics then they are given a pass to the next week (and I believe if they are unable to perform for a second week they have to withdraw from the show, but I'm not 100% sure on that bit). The same thing happened to Diana Vickers a few years back and I believe Strictly has the same rule. Nothing new here.

As it happens they're putting on a pretty good show - the live shows in general this year have been pretty good on the whole and much better than last year's (with Nicole proving to be a revelation). Numbers are down (and have been for a while) but there's not much they can do apart from putting their heads down and putting on the best show they can, which I think they are. No doubt changes will be made for next year but there's a long way to go until then.

The standout figure of the night. Easy to lose sight of just how good a rating that is with Monday's frankly ridiculous ratings for Panorama still fresh in the memory.

Derren Brown also did the business nicely for C4. Their overall share looked a little disappointing on first glance, but it was probably just Baggage dragging them down. No change there then! There must have been quite a lift from 20:50 to 21:05.

Yes, thats a brilliant number and had totally passed me by. Out-rating a lot of primetime on both big channels.

Makes Jonathan Ross' regular ITV numbers, posted after The X Factor of all slots, look pretty poor. The BBC really got lucky with Ross exiting just as he was on the way down and therefore having the golden opportunity to promote Norton. With his faded presence in primetime, they might easily have lost him otherwise.

It's funny how the show that apparantly nobody is watching generates so much comment here, comment not just about the ratings but about the content of the show.

Yet everyone's favourite show, Strictly Come Dancing generates practically zero comment. It's almost as if all the people here who are supporting it this year aren't actually watching it...

What the Thick of It which is what I've been watching?

Good X Factor episode tonight. Good performances, atmosphere. They made an effort for Halloween.

Gary Barlow called Tulisa "fag ash breath" in a heated exchange. #fagashbreath is still trending on Twitter.

I anticipate higher figures for X Factor this week. Certainly, it's so cold and dark in the evenings now I'm watching more TV live or near-live rather than catching up when I can.

Whether it can pull ahead of Strictly, though... I just don't think it's gonna happen.

Oh, absolutely.

JR is probably closer to Alan Carr now than he is to GN, which is saying something, but they are quite well strung out now these 'veterans' of chat.

Well, if the cold and dark can put up X Factor ratings it can certainly put up Strictly's. Strictly may be on earlier but, where I am, the street lights were on at 6pm.

were can i find or does anyone know how many people watched loose women on friday? thanks

There are no free sources out there to obtain this particular rating yourself.

You could try contacting DS. Check the author of the most recent ratings article and drop them an e-mail at firstinitialsurname@digitalspy.co.uk (i.e. pmillar@digitalspy.co.uk) and they may be able to help.

Alternatively look out for posters like Mike Teevee, Bushmills and gslam2 when they are online. These kind souls only too happy to share have full data access and should be able to help with your request.

oh i might pm then, or email pmiller @digitalspy? thankyou

What about when One of the contestants on Come Dancing fell ill and she progressed to the next round without even dancing. Why do people always slag ITV off when BBC are somtimes the same.

There's a difference between genuine illness out of nowhere and self-inflicted damage that prevents one's ability to perform. Do you not agree ?

Except severe flu probably is 'genuine illness'.