Sharon Osbourne returns to the 10th series of X Factor

Sharon Osbourne arrives at the X Factor press launch held at the May Fair Hotel in London. Credit: Ian West/PA Wire

The 10th series of The** X Factor** kicks off tonight with the usual mixture of the talented, the talentless and hopefuls - including a prison officer desperate to break out into the music business.

Viewers will see 36-year-old mother-of-two Sam Bailey, from Leicester, reduced to tears after singing Listen by Beyonce at her audition, with judge Nicole Scherzinger telling her "That's exactly how that song is supposed to be sung".

The show also marks the return of Sharon Osbourne to the judging panel five years after she quit amid rumours of tension with fellow judge Dannii Minogue.

The wife of rocker Ozzy Osbourne, who is replacing Tulisa Contostavlos, is also joined on the panel by Gary Barlow and Louis Walsh.

Fil Henley during his audition for the ITV1 talent show Credit: Tom Dymond/ITV/PA Wire

But she is less than impressed by Fil Henley, a would-be rocker who comes to the audition armed with a guitar and some sandwiches his mother made for him.

The 30-year-old from Maidenhead performs his own take on Robbie Williams' Let Me Entertain You, but Osbourne is more interested in his mullet hairstyle which she describes as "business at the front, party at the back".

There is a second episode of the show, hosted by Dermot O'Leary, tomorrow night.

  • Watch the first episode of X Factor on ITV at 8pm