Louis Walsh confirms his return to ‘The X Factor’

Louis Walsh has confirmed he will be returning to The X Factor judging panel this year.

Walsh, who has sat on the panel since The X Factor began in 2004, will be joining Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell on the eleventh series of the show- alongside a yet to be announced fourth judge.

“I knew I was doing the show but I just signed the deal and I’m very happy with it,” 61-year-old Walsh told Colm Hayes on Irish radio station 2FM yesterday (May 30).

“At my age you have to keep working! I’m going to try to be the sunny guy and put all the Irish acts through.”

Ever since Cole and Cowell were confirmed to be returning earlier this year, there has been a huge amount of speculation surrounding who might be joining them.

With just one seat left now , Walsh went on to discuss possible fourth panel members.

“I think it could be Mel B from the Spice Girls,” he said. “I love her and she’s quite mad. She also did both the American version and the Australian versions of X Factor. But people are also mentioning Alesha [Dixon] and Rita Ora as well.”

Both Mel B and Ora have served as guest judges on previous series of the show, whilst Alesha Dixon currently sits on the Britain’s Got Talent panel alongside Cowell. In April, Cowell denied reports that Ora would be joining the show.

Last year’s X Factor final was watched by 11.5 million viewers, but back in 2010, the final attracted a peak audience of nearly 20 million. Meanwhile, US network Fox announced earlier this year that The X Factor USA, which had been running for three seasons, has been cancelled.