Simon Cowell horrified by self-proclaimed 'rock star' on X Factor: The Band

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The X Factor: The Band kicks off tonight and already Simon Cowell is faced with his first nightmare in Sven Smith.

The glam-rock 22-year-old rates himself an 11 out of 10 in style, but bursts into the music mogul’s office wearing nothing but a tasselled jacket, enormous chest tattoos, and a questionable headband.

Oh.

‘I’m a rock star,’ Sven erupts with pride. ‘I’m doing Jump by the mighty Van Halen.’

Only Simon looks absolutely horrified while music producer Naughty Boy, who will be helping the Syco boss and Nicole Scherzinger find the next X Factor supergroup, looks like he’s just witnessed a murder.

The X Factor: The Band airs Wednesday, Friday and Sunday this week after Simon scrapped X Factor: All-Stars in favour of the new series after learning Little Mix will be launching a similar show titled The Search in 2020.

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Simon Cowell horrified by singer on X Factor: The Band (Picture: ITV)
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Sven Smith looks like Simon’s worst nightmare on X Factor: The Band (Picture: Rex Features)

Tonight acts will audition in Simon’s HQ in London before facing an audience of thousands at arena auditions in Birmingham where Simon and Nicole will be joined by former champion Leona Lewis and Ella Eyre.

‘Simon and the show have discovered some of the biggest pop groups in recent music history, One Direction, Fifth Harmony, Little Mix – they’re all stars and have sold millions of records,’ enthused host Dermot O’Leary.

‘In previous years, you’ve seen the judges put individual singers in a group – usually with their decision making and reasoning off camera, but this time people will get to see the process take place.

‘The judges will select girls and boys to form new bands just like they did with One Direction and Little Mix and then both will go head to head to be crowned the winning group with a live arena finale in Birmingham.’

The X Factor: The Band launches tonight at 8.30pm on ITV.

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