Gary Barlow has claimed that he makes his own decisions when it comes to being a judge on The X-Factor.

The Take That singer told the Daily Star that he isn’t influenced by the show’s producers or Simon Cowell in a response to claims that the talent show is fixed:

“If Simon tried to tell me who to vote for I would say ‘No’. Nobody tells me what to do.”

The 41-year-old also admitted that The X-Factor’s credibility has suffered after Louis Walsh’s decision to take last week’s sing-off vote to deadlock:

“I think in the short-term the reputation of the show has definitely been damaged.

“I know what I’m told by the ­public, by cabbies and stuff like that and people weren’t happy last weekend. They thought their vote hadn’t counted but it does count.”