X Factor judge Louis Walsh last night praised the “amazing welcome” he has received in Bermuda.

The music manager and long-running star of the hit television talent show arrived on the Island on Wednesday.

“I love Bermuda and want to come back,” he told The Royal Gazette. “It’s so laid back. The sea’s amazing, the sun, everything.

“The people are friendly, that’s the most important thing — the people make it. I’ve received an amazing welcome.”

Walsh and the X Factor crew are staying with the Fairmont Group, and spent yesterday in St George’s.

“I love this hotel, the Fairmont,” he said. “Everything is here, you don’t have to go anywhere.”

Walsh is in Bermuda to determine some of the acts that will make the show’s live TV finals.

There are five stages to the X Factor competition — producers’ auditions, judges’ auditions, a boot camp, the judges’ houses, and the live finals.

After whittling down the hopefuls in boot camp, they are divided into categories — girls, boys, over-25s and groups — and each division is paired with a judge who acts a mentor.

The judge takes their assigned category to their ‘house’ overseas to determine who makes the final live shows.

Walsh is taking care of six groups — an area of expertise for the man who has managed hit bands such as Boyzone, Westlife and Girls Aloud.

He usually takes his contestants to his home in Ireland but this week described his visit to Bermuda as “a trip of a lifetime”.

His time here will help him select his three finalists — but he admits it is a tough task.

“It’s the most difficult judges’ houses I’ve ever had,” he said. “Everybody in my six has something to offer. I have to pick the right three.”

The other X Factor judges for this year’s show are programme creator Simon Cowell, former Spice Girl Mel B, and former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Fernandez-Versini.

The new series is the 11th of the smash-hit show, which attracts millions of viewers and is one of the UK’s most popular programmes.

Walsh and the X Factor’s crew will be filming here until Saturday.

The show has launched a string of major global artists, including One Direction and Leona Lewis, who have together sold more than 150 million albums.

The new series will run in the UK on ITV and ITV2 from September to December.