Matt Cardle has insisted that he’s not bitter about One Direction’s success.

The 29-year-old, who was voted the winner of the 2010 series of The X-Factor ahead of the boyband, told Herald.ie that he’s comfortable with the fact that they’ve gone on to achieve far greater popularity:

"A fair few articles that I've read of late, when I'm mentioned, it's like 'flop' and 'reject' are next to my name. I'm sorry -- on what f***ing planet is that a flop? A platinum album, a sell-out tour -- that is a great success. I'm not taking over the planet like One Direction, but then again, it's a completely different beast.

"Unfortunately, for me, they came from the same show, so my success has been completely overshadowed and I understand it, I'm not bitter about it at all. Honestly, I wouldn't trade what I'm doing for what they're doing."

The ‘Run For Your Life’ singer, who is gearing up to release his second album, 'The Fire,' later this month, also revealed he understands why One Direction have become the success story of his series:

"This is a business. What sells quicker? What is easier to market? It's them. They're five great-looking kids -- give them some amazing pop and it's a no-brainer. I think [the label] had to think about what I was doing, about where we go, who we write with, and I don't think they had the time for that, or the inclination to want to do it. 

“I think they just saw what they had with One Direction and ran with it, and that's fine.”