‘The X Factor’ UK notes: Little Mix, Tulisa Contostavlos, Sharon Osbourne

For this edition of “The X Factor” notes, we’re staying firmly within the British series, mostly since there are some pretty crazy stories worth talking about, beginning with the shocking claims surrounding former judge Tulisa Contostavlos just a matter of weeks after she announced that she would be leaving the show after two years.

According to a pretty stunning report from British tabloid The Sun, Tulisa was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a sting set up by journalists for the tabloid. While details are still sketchy, some reports believe that she acted as a sort of middleman in an effort to further along some sort of drug transaction. Reports have also since claimed that the singer has been bailed out, and there is video of her returning back to her home this week.

Tulisa has yet to comment publicly on the story, and details are probably going to continue to pour in during the weeks ahead.

Auditions begin – While all this is going on, auditions in front of the judges for the next season have begun in Glasgow, Scotland, and if there is one thing that we can say about them right now, it is that there are certainly some interesting people trying out.

It has been confirmed now that Sharon Osbourne is a part of the panel now in the place of Tulisa, and for this show she was literally escorted to the venue by none other than a team of shirtless Scots in kilts. Seems about right? We think so.

Little Mix’s sales – The figures have come in for the first week of Little Mix’s “DNA” in America, and the good news is that for now, it appears as though the girls are going to emerge as the second-strongest debut (behind One Direction) for an “X Factor” UK alum in the country in the past several years. The bad news, with somewhere around 45,000 albums worth of sales, they are still pretty far behind One Direction.

—

If you want to check out even more “X Factor” news related to Little Mix, the best way to do it is over at the link here.

Photo: ITV