More than 11 million viewers tuned in to the new series of X Factor on Saturday night.

The number of people who watched the first show in the new series of the ITV1 favourite trumped last year's 9.5 million viewers.

Saturday saw Girls Aloud's Cheryl Cole make her debut as the new judge, replacing Sharon Osbourne who quit after four years on the show.

Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh remain on the panel along with Dannii Minogue, who recently revealed she had a difficult relationship with Osbourne.

"We weren't friends," said Minogue."We weren't always fighting, but Sharon made it clear that she didn't like me, so she won't be missed. Not by me."

In the first episode, Cole left the set when Nikk Mager, an old friend from Popstars: The Rivals, auditioned.

Cole, who was a contestant on the show in 2002 and was chosen to become a member of Girls Aloud, said judging him would be "biased" and "weird".

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