X Factor’s Louis Tomlinson reassures fans music is still his priority

Louis Tomlinson has reassured fans music is still his priority after joining The X Factor.

This year Simon will be joined by new X Factor 2018 judges Ayda Williams, Robbie Williams and Louis Tomlinson for the 15th series.

They appeared on TV together for the first time at the weekend.

Speaking on signing up for the show, Louis said: “The X Factor for me made a lot of sense. Development of artists is something I’ve been interested in for a long time.

“Having been on the show myself I know first-hand that the live shows are like nothing else you would experience. I’m looking forward to guiding auditonees through the process.”

Louis is the first judge to have also been a contestant on the show. As a member of One Direction he has sold more than 150 million records worldwide and achieved more than 100 global No1s. One Direction were the biggest selling UK act globally for three consecutive years and in 2013 they were overall the biggest selling act in the world.

However many fans of the singer didn’t want him to join the show, instead hoping for him to focus on his debut solo album.

But Louis wants fans to know music is still his priority.

He told The Sun newspaper: “Let me get one thing straight, music is the priority but doing these things with Simon as well will make me a better artist. Seeing all these different people, hearing their stories, it’s all important for what makes me an artist.

“The only reservation I had was ‘Can I still finish my record at the same time?’ and I can. It just means that I’m properly busy, which is so much better than twiddling my thumbs and wondering what to do next.”

Taking to social media earlier this year, Louis told his followers after X Factor’s launch’s press event: “I just wanted to check in with everyone.

“As I said in the press conference, the album is still definitely my priority. It doesn’t change any release time or anything like that me doing the show,” he told his fans.

Explaining why he decided to sign up: “I just thought, I’ve come from the show and it made a lot of sense for me to go on.

“And I’ve always been interested in mentoring that’s why I’ve done things in the past with my label so it’s something that’s been on my mind for a number of years now.

“As soon as I got the assurance that it wasn’t going to effect any of my music and actually it was going to help it then I could seriously start thinking about it.”

Louis concluded: “I just want to bring you all up to speed.”

The X Factor will air on ITV on Saturday and Sunday nights on ITV.