Simon Cowell has credited Susan Boyle as the inspiration to the new X Factor format this year.

This years X Factor auditions will now be filmed in front of a live audience, similar to those of Britain’s Got Talent and Simon says it is all due to the audience reaction received by Susan Boyle.

Cowell told GMTV: “I thought in my mind: ‘What would happen if Susan Boyle, as an example, came on X Factor under the current way we do the auditions?’ Four people sitting behind a desk, no audience, no music, just singing acapella, what would have happened in that environment?

“The answer is, I don’t think anything would have happened. I think it would have been quite a boring audition. I think [because of] the way that audition has been shown around the world, it’s unfair now to do auditions without an audience to support them when they’re good or when they need a bit of help.”

The music mogul also predicted that the presence of spectators would influence the panel’s decisions on the forthcoming series.

He commented: “I’ve kind of got over this [idea that] we should be the only ones in judgement. I don’t feel that way anymore. I like the idea that I’ve got a couple of thousand people behind me, and you can take a lead from them.”