Blur guitarist Graham Coxon has hit out at The X-Factor and The Voice, describing them as ‘disgraceful.’

The 43-year-old, who released his eighth studio album, ‘A&E,’ earlier this year, told The Independent that he finds it hard to relate to the concept of TV talent shows.

Discussing his own skills as a musician, he said: "I've only got myself to please. When I'm on my own in my front room with a guitar, there's no one going to say to me, 'That's really great' if I play some old rubbish. I do believe in doing things right. Which is why The X Factor and The Voice are so disgraceful to me.

"Perhaps I'm old-fashioned in that sense – that I believe you have to pay your dues. Being a musician is not something you can become overnight."

Coxon, who will perform alongside the rest of Blur at the Olympics’ closing ceremony gig in August, also revealed he finds it difficult to understand why people still ask him about the band’s well-publicised rivalry with Oasis back in the 90s:

"The fact that Noel and Damon are pretty good friends now and I'm supporting Noel on tour in September doesn't seem to enter people's heads. They want to perpetuate something that us lot have forgotten about.

“In the rare moments that it pops up in conversation we're, like, 'What was that about? What a lot of nonsense'."