Meath balloons to feature in 'The X-Factor'

Trim-based company Irish Balloon Flights will feature on the hit show 'The X-Factor' after part of the show was filmed in hot air balloons over Adare, Co Limerick, recently. Adare Manor was on lockdown as 'The X-Factor' came to Ireland. Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh, Dermot O'Leary, Konnie Huq and Meath-based company, Irish Balloon Flights, arrived at the five-star resort to film the 'judges' houses 'part of the hit show. A ring of security was erected around the luxury venue with burly security guards stopping everyone arriving at the hotel and golf resort, which was home to the recent JP McManus Pro Am golf tournament. Irish Balloon Flights were contacted by the show producers to film part of the show in its huge 16-passenger Hunky Dorys hot air balloon. A second one of their balloons flew alongside with film crew for air-to-air footage. Irish Balloon Flights operations director Pauline Baker said: "The whole experience was amazing. We were contacted about four weeks in advance and everything was 'top secret' as the contestants did not know who their judge and guest judge were going to be. Our pilots and crew were only told whilst on the way to the venue that we were going to be filming for 'X-Factor'." She added: "We only had one three-hour window to do the filming and luck was on our side as the skies over Limerick cleared, the wind dropped off and the sun shone brilliantly. There was also some divine intervention from Trim and Limerick as statues of the Little Child of Prague were put out. It was a perfect evening for the filming as the two balloons were able to stay together to get some great air-to-air shots. "We flew for 90 minutes with a huge convoy of cars, following Pied Piper fashion. The convoy turned out to be fans of the show and the paparazzi who suspected that there were some VIPs in the hot air balloons once they saw them launch from the Manor." Ms Baker said it was great to be part of the show and to be able to watch the contestants being filmed in the formal gardens of Adare Manor over their two-day stay. "We have done a number of TV programmes and films so it's nice to be able to add the 'X-Factor' to our list," she said. The show had 12.6 million viewers for its first programme of the current series and the producers expect it to be the biggest series ever. The Adare programme is expected to be aired in October.