'X Factor' Star Tom Jones

2 months ago 23rd Sep 13:00

Tom Jones would have appeared on 'The X Factor'.

The Welsh crooner said he would have begun his career on the ITV talent show - which he avidly follows - if he were starting out today.

Tom, 69, said: "I'd definitely have gone for 'The X Factor' if it had been going when I was starting out.

"I did lots of auditions in the early 1960s and my first television appearance was on a talent show called 'Donald Pearce Presents'.

"Was I ready for it? I was dying for it. I'd been singing since I was a kid, it's all I wanted to do.

"I think 'The X Factor' is a great stage for young people to get on the TV, as long as they are prepared for it. Shows like that really throw them in at the deep end.

People audition for talent shows who have never sung outside their front room and I just can't understand how they're not more nervous than they actually are.

He also said he couldn't understand how nerves don't get the better of more people on the show - which this year sees potential stars audition live in front of thousands of people, and commands a weekly TV audience of around 10 million.

Tom added: "People audition for talent shows who have never sung outside their front room and I just can't understand how they're not more nervous than they actually are."

He also said he doesn't believe programmes like 'The X Factor' and 'Britain's Got Talent' are exploiting vulnerable people, who are routinely ridiculed when they give awful performances.

Tom said: "it's not like being a child star or one of those young beauty queens, they're all adults. They know what they are doing."