Dermot O'Leary thinks X Factor should take a year's break

He presented the X Factor for eight years, now Dermot O'Leary has revealed what he thinks the ITV show needs to do to survive.

In recent years the programme has suffered falling ratings.

Around seven million watched its launch last year, compared to nine million in 2014.

Dermot's advice to Simon Cowell? The show should take a year off and then return to its classic format.

Back in the days of Leona Lewis and JLS, the first auditions took place in front of the judges, but this was later replaced with arena auditions and a live audience.

Dermot told the Radio Times: "If I was Simon I'd take it off air for a year. I would rest it, and then I would get back to the rooms.

"For me it was always room, arena, boot camp."

Dermot is also not a fan of the Six Chair Challenge, which was called "cruel" and "humiliating" by some viewers on social media when it was broadcast in 2015.

The challenge involves the judges forcing some contestants to give up their chair for a singer they believe is better in front of a large audience.

"I was really uncomfortable about the Six Chair Challenge," Dermot said. "I don't think it's a particularly nice bit of television."

Olly Murs and Caroline Flack had big shoes to fill when they took over from Dermot last year, with the phrase "bring back Dermot" becoming a popular hashtag on Twitter.

But despite his X Factor fan base, Dermot believes he left at the right time.

"I lived for the live shows," he explained. "And I was still having fun doing them, but it got to the point where I couldn't develop anything else. And you've only got one life, haven't you?"

Dermot is returning to our screens with the new BBC One series The Getaway Car, where contestants take on courses guided by their relatives, friends or partners.

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