Olly Murs has been signed up as Gary Barlow’s guest judge for this year’s X Factor.
Yes, Murs has hopped, skipped and jumped from X Factor contestant, to presenter on sister show The Xtra Factor and now to guest judge, a source close to the show tells RadioTimes.com.
Murs will travel with Gary to New York, where it has been revealed Gary will be taking his groups.
Here, the duo will decide which of the acts to take to the live shows.
Fellow judge Louis Walsh has been joined by three celebrities in Saint-Tropez – Nicole Appleton, Sinitta and Westlife’s Shane Filan – so presumably Gary could yet add more guests.
In previous years, Gary has called on X Factor judge Cheryl Cole and Take That buddy Robbie Williams for help in the Judges' Houses rounds.
Fellow judges Nicole Scherzinger and Sharon Osbourne are yet to reveal their celebrity guests.
Murs will be a great companion for Gary and a good mentor for the acts, given he has stood on the X before, finishing as runner-up to winner Joe McElderry in 2009.
Murs was a member of the ‘overs’ category during the sixth series of The X Factor and head honcho Simon Cowell was his mentor, so Olly can certainly bring experience to the table. Indeed, Cowell is reported to have called Murs "the best risk I’ve ever taken in my life".
Murs returned to the show’s eighth series as co-presenter on the Xtra Factor with Caroline Flack. He has been replaced this year by new co-host comedian Matt Richardson.
so excited.
