X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger has been warned after saying the word "effing" on TV.

The singer uttered the phrase "This is James effing Arthur" on a pre-watershed live show last year as she introduced her act.

Media regulator Ofcom said they received 52 complaints due to it being a shorthand version of a popular swear word.

They have now ruled that it was "offensive language" that shouldn't have been broadcast pre-watershed.

Ofcom added that people will have recognised the term as a substitute for a swear word and "as a result it was capable of causing a certain amount of offence".

ITV maintained that Scherzinger didn't mean to offend and added that they considered apologising on the night for the word, but decided against it.