X Factor hopeful Janet Devlin has admitted she was relieved not to have had to perform in front of Simon Cowell at her audition.

The music mogul quit the UK series earlier this year in order to launch the show in America, and was replaced on the panel by Take That’s Gary Barlow.

Devlin’s audition featured in the first episode of the new series on Saturday, and millions saw the 16-year-old wow the a packed arena with her rendition of ‘Your Song’ by Elton John/Ellie Goulding.

Speaking to The Sun, the Irish singer said: “I was kind of happy Simon wasn’t there because I thought he’d hate me. He just tells it straight, whether he likes it or not.

“Then I found out Gary was worse in terms of being honest, although, thankfully, he was good to me.”

Gary described the performance as a “fantastic audition”, a view echoed by his fellow judges.

Janet said she was “overwhelmed” by their response, but was feeling the pressure after receiving praise from stars including Lily Allen, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney on Twitter.

You can watch Janet’s audition in our week 1 recap. What did you make of her performance?

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