Expy: Was pretty strongly pushed as being one of these for Alexandra Burke. Unfortunately, not only did this not benefit her in the competition, based on her voting rankings it may actually have been counter-productive.
Shocking Elimination: Prior to the live shows she was generally considered the second or third favourite to win the whole thing, and was definitely a talented vocalist. In the actual series however she finished second-bottom in the first two weeks, topped the vote in the third week, and then crashed out in bottom place in the fourth week.
Jamie Archer
Category: Over-25s
Afro Asskicker: Was definitely this in his audition, where he even lampshaded the fact that his nickname was "Jamie Afro." Less so in the live shows, where his limitations in performing non-rock songs became obvious — he did have one of the better voices from this season in all fairness, it's just that there were several even better ones.
Lloyd Daniels
Category: Boys
Ambiguously Gay: Has performed several times at the G.A.Y. nightclub in London, did a couple of photoshoots for Attitude magazine, and was even rumoured to have dated Danyl for a while. Despite this, he has never confirmed to being gay (or straight, for that matter).
Lloyd came out in 2020, and claimed that the producers had told him to hide his sexuality, presumably to avoid disappointing female fans.
Distressed Dude: Ended up in the bottom two more times than anyone else from this series except for Rachel, who he faced off against in the week she was eliminated.
John and Edward (Jedward)
Category: Groups
Early-Installment Weirdness: In this series they were known as John and Edward rather than their more familiar name Jedward. In their initial audition and Boot Camp they also put on pseudo-American accents, which they had dropped by the time of the Judges' Houses stage.
The Runner-Up Takes It All: Initially they were the most popular act from this series. Now they've probably been eclipsed by Olly and Stacey, but they're still very popular in their native Ireland.
Talkative Loon: Especially on the panel shows after their appearance on the X Factor. Being in close proximity to them for extended periods of time on the shows is not advised, as comedian Greg Davies proved.
Took a Level in Badass: Widely considered to have done this with their Under Pressure/Ice Ice Baby mash-up, which saw them at least graduate to being considered So Okay, It's Average, after Simon had accused them earlier in the series of being the least talented act ever to make it to the live shows.
Kandy Rain
Category: Groups
Stripper Iffic: Wore very revealing outfits, which they got called out on for after complaining that people weren't taking them seriously as musicians.
Danyl Johnson
Category: Over-25s
One-Hit Wonder: Often remembered as the guy who got into fourth place off the back of nothing more than a really strong first audition. While that's probably a little unfair, given that he was undoubtedly very talented, it's also fair to say that his first audition was the high point of his run on the show. Him and Lucie competed to represent UK in the 2017 Eurovision, but Lucie won the Uk's place in Kiev.
The Bully: Rumoured to have been this behind the scenes, with sites even citing him making fun of Stacey about her single mom status.
Lucie Jones
Category: Girls
Shocking Elimination: Under normal circumstances it wouldn't have been that shocking, as she was widely regarded as the weakest member of the Girls category (albeit still a very solid singer overall) and finished bottom of the rankings in Week 5. However, the act she was facing was the undoubtedly less talented John and Edward, who Simon Cowell didn't eliminate despite having constantly criticised them — he sent it to deadlock, resulting in Lucie's elimination.
What the Hell, Hero?: Add the above to the fact that Week 5 was regarded Lucie's best ever performance, which twists the knife even further.
Rikki Loney
Category: Boys
Red Shirt: Between his inoffensive personality, average-at-best singing skills (though he was probably still more talented than Lloyd, in fairness) and competing against the likes of Joe, Olly and Danyl, he really had absolutely no hope of getting anywhere in the competition. In fact, other than John and Edward he was the only act to get kicked out via a majority vote rather than deadlock or the public vote.
Miss Frank
Category: Groups
Shocking Elimination: Even the judges were shocked that they left the show (and Danyl finished second-bottom) in only the third episode, as they were widely regarded as being far more talented than Kandy Rain or John and Edward.
Joe McElderry
Category: Boys
Straight Gay: This was the source of much debate among fans during his time on the show, especially given rumours that he had briefly had a fling with Rachel before she got voted off. He came out soon after winning, however, and he and Rachel confirmed that the rumour of them dating was total crap.
The Generic Guy: While undoubtedly one of the show's best-ever vocalists, there wasn't really much of anything about his personality that stood out. This may have been a key reason for his lack of success outside the show.
Olly Murs
Category: Over-25s
Ascended Extra: Went from contestant, to runner-up, to hosting Xtra Factor and showing up on the actual show to guest perform at least once every subsequent season, and in 2015 hosted the actual show itself.
Camp Straight/Mistaken for Gay: Loves to dance and sing, but confesses that he has trouble getting dates because girls think he's gay.
Motor Mouth: His initial audition interview shows him chattering a mile a minute.
The Runner-Up Takes It All: Probably the most successful act overall this series (although Jedward were initially more successful), and definitely the most critically acclaimed.
Shocking Elimination: Narrowly averted; he actually got less votes than John and Edward in the week that saw the Irish twins eliminated, which fortunately for him was the last week where the judges still had the vote. Had he finished bottom a week later he would have been a goner, which begs the question as to whether he would have enjoyed his subsequent success if he had left the competition earlier.
Stacey Solomon
Category: Girls
The Ditz: Often seemed like this on the show, where she could be near-incoherent in Confession Cam segments and when talking to Dermot or Holly. More likely this was nerves however, as she's since gotten a lot more articulate (if still very bouncy and energetic) in her subsequent television career.
Lampshaded when instead of waiting till the end of the song, she hugged Lloyd goodbye while he was still singing his exit song, "A Million Love Songs".
No-Damage Run: Aside from Joe, she was the only act from this series never to finish in the sing-off.
The Runner-Up Takes It All: Maybe not to the same extent as Olly, but she's still carved a decent career for herself as a television host and interviewer.
Shocking Elimination: Prior to the live shows she was generally considered the second or third favourite to win the whole thing, and was definitely a talented vocalist. In the actual series however she finished second-bottom in the first two weeks, topped the vote in the third week, and then crashed out in bottom place in the fourth week.
.
One-Hit Wonder: Often remembered as the guy who got into fourth place off the back of nothing more than a really strong first audition. While that's probably a little unfair, given that he was undoubtedly very talented, it's also fair to say that his first audition was the high point of his run on the show. Him and Lucie competed to represent UK in the 2017 Eurovision, but Lucie won the Uk's place in Kiev.