Gary Barlow has slammed last year’s X-Factor contestants, describing them as lazy, complacent and cocky.

The Take That star, who returns to this year’s judging panel alongside Tulisa, Louis Walsh and new recruit Nicole Scherzinger, told the Daily Mail that he was surprised at how rapidly fame went to some finalists’ heads:

“One of the biggest shocks for me last year was how quickly people become lazy once they get into this competition.

“I found myself thinking, ‘Hold on, this is just the start. You haven't made it yet. Even if you win it is just the start.’"

The 41-year-old, who mentored the likes of Frankie Cocozza and Marcus Collins in his first series as a judge, went on to add:

“It is weird – you take people off the street and put them in this bubble and they start to act like they have arrived. You can see them thinking, ‘I was born to do this, I don't have to work at it.’”