Series 7 of The X Factor premiered on August 21, 2010 and ended on December 12, 2010. It is the most watched series to date, with an average of 14.13 million viewers per episode. The final was watched by 17.71 million people, making it the highest rated television episode of 2010 in the UK. It was won by 27-year old pop rock singer Matt Cardle who was part of the Boys category mentored by Dannii Minogue. Fellow finalists Rebecca Ferguson, One Direction and Cher Lloyd and Aiden Grimshaw also secured record deals with One Direction going on to achieve global success with sales of over 40 million.