Dermot O'Leary would love to see 'The X Factor' reach its 20th anniversary.

Dermot O'Leary

Dermot O'Leary

The show host has admitted he'd be thrilled if the singing series gets recommissioned for at least another six years because it would be a "real testament" to the bosses.

Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he said: "That would be great, wouldn't it! What a testament for the show is on air for 20 years.

"When I was on 'Big Brother' we couldn't believe we were on air as long as we were, for the show to still resonate with the public and to average 8 million every week across 16 weeks, it's a testament people are still talking about the show."

But the 44-year-old television presenter would walk away from the programme if he felt like it was becoming too samey because he likes how unpredictable it is every year.

He explained: "No, because, if it was I wouldn't do it, you never know what's coming round the corner, that's what I love about the gig, one auditionee is completely different to the next auditionee so the people you meeting on a daily basis are all the colours of the rainbow and you meet great people on the show."

This year, the show's boss Simon Cowell has switched up the format so that there aren't as many live episodes - and Dermot thinks that was a wise idea.

He said: "I feel fine about it [having more Six Chair Challenges]. I was never the biggest fan of it but what's interesting is having done it for a few years now, people know what to expect, the first year people were like it's brutal.

"Of course I would want to do more live shows but I get it, people don't watch two and a half hours of live telly on Saturday night's any more, you've got to evolve."

'The X Factor' will return to screens on Saturday (02.09.17) on ITV at 8pm.