This £3.5m house is where the X Factor contestants will be staying

The X Factor live shows begin this Saturday and the contestants will be shacking up in a north London luxury pad worth over £3.5m.

It has six bedrooms and four bathrooms, so plenty of showers for singing, rapping, and howling in. The house is in the coveted area of Hadley Wood and was listed on Zoopla for almost £13.5k a month in January.

But despite its six figure price tag and huge grounds, this year's X Factor house seems to be a bit of a downgrade on last year's property, which – with a current Zoopla estimate of almost £9m – featured a state-of-the-art car lift, an indoor pool and a cinema room.

I mean, this year's abode is practically a hovel in comparison.

Last year's digs

Those were the days.

The X Factor is on ITV at 8pm on Saturday