auditions
took place all over the UK during June and July 2004 .
It was billed as Britain's biggest ever "talent" search with 50,000 hopefuls attending the initial round of auditions, and only around 400 were to be selected to face the celebrity judges before television cameras.
It became apparent that the X-Factor was another variation of the "Pop Idol" franchise. Realising that they are not the next Westlife or Steps, The Inflations entered simply in the hope that they could raise a smile and raise their profile with a TV appearance.
The production crew certainly entered into the spirit, issuing Kylie and Britney with their own application numbers and identification stickers.
The girls enjoyed their flirtation with celebrity - even allowing some of the production crew to have their photograph taken with them!
The Inflations were the only act in the "group" category to contain two inflatable women, and the girls certainly ensured they passed two rounds of auditions to perform before Messrs Cowell, Osborne and Walsh.
A photo of Kylie and Andy appeared three times on the official X-Factor website (see above) when it was launched on 4 September 2004, so it looked likely that a national TV appearance would follow!
The Daily Star were certainly aware of The Inflations audition as they reported on 28 August 2004 that some of the unusual wannabes "...included a Duo that danced with girly puppets" - sounds familiar!
On 7 September 2004 "Sneak" magazine included an ITV press release photo of The Inflations (below right) in an article on X-Factor auditionees entitled "the weirdest lot… ever", labelling the girls as "dodgy dummies"!
Unfortunately, The Inflations only appeared on TV for a few seconds on each of two episodes (see video clip page), so the viewing public of around 8 million were spared Mr Cowell's reaction "they're so ugly" (we think he was referring to the girls) and the startling revelation "they've got no feet"!
Despite being rejected, the guys certainly enjoyed their X-Factor experience however, Kylie and Britney were left a bit deflated by the judges' comments! 