The X Factor judging line up will change this year, as pregnant Dannii Minogue has voted herself out of the live auditions.

Dannii will not be part of the first stages of the hit ITV1 reality show because it will clash with the birth of her first baby in June.

She revealed at an awards ceremony: "When the live auditions will be happening I will be in Australia giving birth, so I'm not being able to do that, unfortunately.

"I'm sure they will cope without me for a while.

"There is no way I could give birth and tour around the UK looking for acts for the show. I've not quit X Factor and I'd still love to be a part of the live shows further down the line. But that's down to Simon Cowell and the producers really."

Highlighting her baby bump in a flowing yellow dress Dannii told the Mirror: "It's sad I won't be involved at that stage, but there are bigger things happening in my life with the baby coming."

Whether Simon will bring in a fifth judge for maternity cover and then bring back Dannii later, or leave her out of the series altogether, has not yet been announced.

A show source said: "Simon makes his X Factor decisions around April. Dannii should be fine to go back in October when they start the boot camp stages."

After the anger over Denise Van Outen being dropped from presenting Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest BBC TV series because she's pregnant, the X Factor were probably careful about telling Dannii what to do.

Luckily she's come to this decision herself, as she'll literally be giving birth at the time of live auditions.

And she'll hardly be putting her feet up as she's launching a fashion range, recording new songs and working on her autobiography.

Do you think Dannii should be replaced or should she return to the X Factor later this year?