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What's amazing with 'The X Factor' is that it gives people a chance who wouldn't normally have one. I couldn't go on it, because it would be, like, me being lazy, because I've definitely had my opportunities.

I never thought I'd go on a show like 'The X Factor,' simply because I didn't have enough confidence to do something like standing on a stage to have opinions thrown at me.

'The X Factor' is great entertainment, but it doesn't prepare people for getting chewed up and spat out by the music industry.

'The X Factor' seems to be more about building up personalities and people in tears. And it's not a new idea. The pre-Beatles pop world was full of manufactured pop stars. The thing is that you can't imagine any of the artists you look back at and admire ever going on 'The X Factor.'

I think when you're a TV presenter, you have to have a reason for doing it, and a lot of them have been around a long time and grafted for that. The reason why it works with me on 'The Xtra Factor' is because I was a contestant on it, and I have a relationship with the viewers at home.

Everyone who turns up on 'X Factor' does it because a door has been closed to them at some time in their lives, and this is the only shot they have got.

You wouldn't find a Joni Mitchell on 'X Factor;' that's not the place. 'X Factor' is a specific thing for people that want to go through that process - it's a factory, you know, and it's owned and stitched-up by puppet masters.

I'm always being asked if I watch 'The X Factor,' and I do from time to time. I know it makes for great TV and that Simon Cowell has a real gift.

It's funny because the perception is that the typical 'X Factor' contestant is the person who's just working 9 to 5 and just decides to one day go and audition. So yeah, for me, it was a very different story.

I never know what is going to have that 'X' factor and what isn't.