<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Dermot O&amp;#039;Leary has admitted that he initially regretted signing up for the eighth and ninth series of The X Factor. The presenter said that after Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole announced their departure from the judging panel, he believed the show would have to come to an end.  During an interview on ITV&amp;#039;s Loose Women today (February 8), O&amp;#039;Leary revealed that he was worried about the show&amp;#039;s future before Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos came on board. &amp;quot;When Simon and Cheryl left, I thought, &amp;#039;That&amp;#039;s it right?&amp;#039;&amp;quot; he explained. &amp;quot;For about a month it was just me and Louis [Walsh] and I thought, &amp;#039;Oh I&amp;#039;ve made a big mistake here&amp;#039;. But, it just goes to show how robust that format is, because Gary has done such a great job, Nicole [Scherzinger] has come in and done a great job this year as well and Tulisa won last year.&amp;quot; The 39-year-old - who was joined by former X Factor contestant Rylan Clark on the chat show - also said that he has continually resumed his presenting duties because he feels a loyalty to the Saturday night programme. &amp;quot;I wouldn&amp;#039;t do it if I didn&amp;#039;t love it. It&amp;#039;s so much fun. It&amp;#039;s a nine-month gig for me so if you couldn&amp;#039;t totally immerse yourself in the brilliance and the insanity of it then you shouldn&amp;#039;t be doing it,&amp;quot; he explained. &amp;quot;You have got a real family feel there, and for me, I love doing live telly and it gives me 20 shows to do a year.&amp;quot;  When asked about the forthcoming tenth series of the contest, O&amp;#039;Leary - who is currently promoting this year&amp;#039;s X Factor live tour - admitted that he has &amp;quot;no idea&amp;quot; whether the judging panel will change once again. &amp;quot;In terms of judges we never know,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t know who the judges were up until a week before last year. It&amp;#039;s all about diary and it goes to the last minute.&amp;quot; Last week, Rita Ora revealed that she had turned down a chance to join the X Factor lineup. The singer - who appeared as a guest judge during the audition stages of the last series - said that she had made the decision because she wanted to focus on her music career. &amp;quot;There were talks,&amp;quot; the 22-year-old said. &amp;quot;But if I were to take on that role, it would have to be at a point when I could give it my full attention.&amp;quot; &amp;#039;The X Factor&amp;#039; tour 2013 - photo gallery:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-x-factor/news/a457498/dermot-oleary-i-thought-id-made-a-big-mistake-rejoining-x-factor/>