Walsh: "I'm back from a dark place"

Louis Walsh has revealed that he is keen to start focusing on the X Factor again.

The judge and mentor missed two weeks of the show following the death of Boyzone star Stephen Gately, but is due to return for tonight's programme.

In an interview with The Sun, Walsh said: "I'm really looking forward to getting back to business.

"It's been a hard couple of weeks but I'm back from a dark place and ready to focus on the show and getting my acts safely through one more week."

Walsh has two groups left in the contest - Miss Frank and John and Edward Grimes - and he stated that he is keen to ensure they remain for as long as possible.

He also revealed that he was disappointed about the way the twins were treated last week.

"I was really upset to hear the studio audience boo them. It takes a lot of guts for any act to get up on stage and perform live and I thought it was really out of order for them to get booed. I won't be letting the audience get away with it this week.

"They've got a fantastic performance this week and I hope they get a good response from both the public and the studio audience.

"What I am hoping for this week is that John and Edward get shown the respect that they deserve."

The X Factor continues tonight at 8pm on ITV1.