Gary Barlow saved the best for last on tonight's first X Factor live show when he confirmed that this will indeed be his last year working as a judge on the UK series.
Barlow's much hyped 'boyband' Rough Copy had just finished a crowd pleasing performance of Phil Collins 'In The Air Tonight' (which needed more Mike Tyson and/or a gorilla on the drums) when the judge said it was a pleasure to mentor them during his "last year on the show". The news seemed to come as a shock to the studio audience, who delivered an almost note perfect gasp before Dermot O'Leary shifted attention back to the boys.
DJ Chris Evans had claimed that Barlow would exit the show just yesterday. "By the way, this will be Gary's last year on The X Factor... because he told me last week", Evans claimed live on air during a BBC Radio 2 broadcast.
Guess he had the inside track after all...
