X Factor judge Louis Tomlinson ‘excited’ to have found his final six

X Factor judge Louis Tomlinson has revealed that he has decided on the six contestants that he will take through to the judges’ houses phase of the ITV singing competition.

The One Direction singer and former X Factor contestant will be in charge of the boys’ category in this year’s series.

Head judge Simon Cowell will be responsible for the girls, former Take That star Robbie Williams is overseeing the groups and Williams’ wife Ayda Field is looking after the over-30s.

Tomlinson, 26, gave an update on how the show’s production was progressing to his 32. 9 million followers on Twitter.

He wrote: “Now I’ve got my final six I’m proper excited for the next stage!”

The successful singing hopefuls will now advance after surviving the brutal six-chair challenge.

During the spectacle acts perform live in front of an audience and their judge then has to decide if they want the act to take a seat and a place in the next round.

No contestants place is safe until the last person in each category has sung.

The X Factor’s format has undergone a shake-up with judges now able to grant one safe seat through the challenge to a standout singer of their choice.

The six-chair challenge stage was filmed this week at London’s Wembley Arena, ahead of the series starting later this summer.