X FACTOR fever is back but some of us haven’t quite got the bug just yet.

With the same old wannabes, it is hard to pick out who has got the talent to win this year’s show and who will end up in bootcamp.

Yet as The X Factor’s eighth season gets underway, the big question is: Is the show the same without Simon, Cheryl and Dannii?

And for me, the answer is no. Although Gary Barlow has taken Simon’s place, he just doesn’t pull off the bad-man attitude and his squeaky clean boy band image can’t be tarnished. Apart from looking good, Tulisa Contostavlos has attracted a younger audience from her N-Dubz fan base and Kelly Rowland must be doing something right as 12 million viewers tuned in to the new episode on Saturday night.

But away from the dodgy auditions and criticism of the new judges, the majority of us are looking forward to getting into Saturday night telly much more than usual now the show has started. Love it or loathe it, as the dark nights creep upon us the X-Factor will be providing entertainment from now until Christmas and my X-Factor final party is already planned.

What do you think . . . does the X-Factor still have the X-Factor?