X Factor voting figures reveal the extent of Dalton Harris’s victory

The 24-year-old was a firm favourite to win the competition ever since he first wowed Simon Cowell and co with his soulful rendition of Elton John’s Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (and it’s little wonder, after competing in a similar singing-style contest in Jamaica).

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But the release of the voting stats prove just how popular Harris was with the viewing public, with the star scoring 41.3% of the final vote – a whole ten percent over runner-up Scarlett Lee.

He also managed to top the vote five times out of seven overall, only being beaten twice at the start of the competition by eventual third place finalist Anthony Russell.

Now having won the competition, Harris has released his winners’ single, a cover of Jennifer Rush’s The Power of Love. The track sees him team up with fellow X Factor winner James Arthur in a bid to score the X Factor's first Christmas number 1 in four years.

Dalton’s win was watched by an average of 5.5 million viewers, a slight increase on last year which saw 5.2 million tune in to see Rak-Su take the title – however, a dip from 2016’s show where Matt Terry crooned his way to victory.

Yet despite diminishing viewing figures, music mogul Cowell says the show has been offered an extension thanks to an increase in 16 to 34-year-olds watching – meaning the show could stay on our screens until 2022.

“We could probably do three years or five years. It makes a lot of money,” he told The Sun.

“We’re losing people now but fortunately the young audience has actually grown this year and all the advertisers and the sponsors want that income on a Saturday.”

The X Factor returns to ITV next year

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