The crew was travelling with six female contestants — Lucie Jones, 18, Stacey Solomon, 19, Rachel Adedeji, 18, Nicole Jackson, 19, Despina Pilavakis, 20, and Stacey McLean, 20 — who were joining Dannii, 37, at the five-star Atlantis Palm hotel.
It was initially reported that the girls were also stopped and held, but it was later confirmed they had made it through customs and were taken straight to their hotel.
Mentor: Dannii Minogue arrives back in the UK yesterday
A source said: "When camera crews fly abroad to film, many countries have agreements in place to let them in without any fuss. But Dubai is a lot stricter."
A show spokesman confirmed: "The crew was held at security for a couple of hours." The girls were later treated to not just one, but two Minogues as Dannii was joined by big sister Kylie, 41.
The pop star sisters put the six through a final audition before whittling them down to three finalists, in scenes to be aired this Saturday.
The other judges also picked a final three with Simon Cowell mentoring the over-25s at his Barbados home, Louis Walsh auditioning the groups in Ireland and the male singers flying to Morocco to sing for Cheryl Cole.
