X Factor: ITV has no plans for another series of the show

Simon Cowell's show The X Factor ran from 2004-2018 but has not been seen since

ITV have confirmed they have "no plans" for another series of The X Factor.

The last full series of Simon Cowell's pop music TV talent show aired in 2018, although a celebrity edition was broadcast the following year.

During its peak in the late noughties, the X Factor was one of the most popular TV shows in the UK. However, ratings have fallen in recent years.

An ITV spokesman told the BBC: "There are no current plans for the next series of The X Factor at this stage."

A report in The Sun claimed the show will be rested for at least five years.

The X Factor first aired in 2004 and judges on the show have included Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh, Cheryl, and Nicole Scherzinger. A US version of the show ran for three seasons from 2011-2013.

In 2019, ITV signed a deal with Cowell to broadcast Britain's Got Talent until at least 2024, but did not commit to keeping The X Factor past 2020.

The singing competition regularly attracted an audience of more than 10 million a decade ago, with more than 17 million viewers tuning in to see Matt Cardle crowned the winner of the 2010 series.

Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell during Ireland auditions for The X Factor in 2004

But ratings fell in subsequent years. In 2018, an average of 5.3 million people watched Dalton Harris crowned the winner, when the judges were Louis Tomlinson, Robbie Williams and Ayda Field.

The show was absent in 2019, with a celebrity edition taking its place and in early 2020 it was revealed that Cowell was to give it another year off.

Last month, it was revealed the music mogul's attentions have now turned to leading a fresh panel of judges in an upcoming new ITV musical game show, entitled Walk The Line.

X Factor success stories

One Direction in 2011 on the X Factor Live Tour at London's Wembley Arena

While many people down the years walked away from the early rounds of The X Factor broken-hearted, a coterie of successful contestants have enjoyed brilliant showbiz careers off the back of the show.

• One Direction finished third in series seven of the show in 2010, and subsequently signed to Cowell's label Syco. After dominating the charts with four number one singles and albums, all five former members of the boyband - Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik (who left the band in 2015) have gone on to enjoy solo careers.

• Leona Lewis is the second best-selling act to come out of the show after 1D. The Bleeding Love singer has sold more than 30 million records worldwide and been nominated for several Brit and Grammy awards. She made her Broadway debut in 2016, as Grizabella, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats.

• Little Mix rose to fame in 2011 as the first girl group to win the UK version of the show. They have gone on to score a plethora of hit singles including five number ones. They won a raft of Brit Awards, including best group at this year's ceremony. They split from Syco records in 2018, days before the release of their album LM5, with Cowell saying it was down to him having fallen out with their management company. Jesy Nelson left the band in December.

Little Mix followed One Direction on to the Syco Records roster

• Olly Murs finished second in the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009. He went on to have four UK number one singles and albums (the same as 1D, incidentally), before moving into the world of TV presenting. Murs hosted the spin-off show The Xtra Factor, alongside the late Caroline Flack. The pair also presented the main series in 2015. Since 2018, he has been a coach on The Voice UK.

• Rylan Clark-Neal finished fifth place in the nine series of X Factor, and while he did not go on to have chart success like the some of the other stars, he did then become a top TV presenter. After winning Celebrity Big Brother, he hosted Big Brother's Bit on the Side, The Xtra Factor, This Morning, Strictly: It Takes Two as well as reboots of Supermarket Sweep and Ready Steady Cook. He also also covered the Eurovision Song Contest for the BBC and launched his own Saturday show on Radio 2.