X Factor: Simon Cowell and Dermot O’Leary could miss first auditions

X Factor could be about to be thrown into chaos after it was reported Simon Cowell and Dermot O’Leary have been taken ill.

O’Leary will make his return to the ITV talent show after it was confirmed earlier this year that Olly Murs and Caroline Flack had stood down as hosts.

But the presenter has reportedly been struck down with food poisoning which forced him to pull out of the Glamour Women of the Year Awards on Tuesday night.

With the first auditions scheduled to take place in Leicester tomorrow a source told The Sun: “Dermot is a regular guest at the Glamour Awards so his absence proved how ill he is.

“He was supposed to be at the auditions but it’s touch and go whether he will be well enough.”

Cowell has also been battling flu and was forced to pull out of hosting his Together For Short Lives charity ball last week.

The source said: “Simon is hopeful he can make it but is under the weather this week. He’s resting up.”

Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger will make their X Factor return after replacing judges, Cheryl, Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora.

Walsh recently admitted that he did not have faith in last year's panel and told Cowell that he tampered with the format too much.

“I think being away from the show for a year was a really good thing for me," he told BBC Radio 2. "Ratings weren’t good, so I knew watching the first show it wasn’t going to work.

“I called Simon really late at night, and said, ‘You’ve messed with it too much. It’s not working.’ He didn’t say anything for a second, and then he said ‘Maybe you’re right’."

X Factor returns to TV later this year.

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