Craig Revel Horwood has cheekily thanked Simon Cowell for handing him his 'X Factor' protege for his show 'Sister Act'.

Craig Revel Horwood

Craig Revel Horwood

The 'Strictly Come Dancing' judge is currently directing the touring musical and says he has the 56-year-old music mogul to thank for "delivering" Alexandra Burke - who won the ITV singing competition in 2008 - to him.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Our Deloris [Alexandra] is an absolute sensation. I can only thank Simon Cowell for delivering these wonderful singers to my doorstep, saves me audition money. I can use 'X Factor' as my audition platform and pick and choose people from that.

"Those talent shows are fantastic for delivering this type of talent and Alexandra has a wonderful future and career ahead of her."

It comes after the 51-year-old dance enthusiast took a swipe at his rival by suggesting he could do with coming on 'Strictly' to save his career.

He previously said: "He'd probably love himself too much. I think he's probably got two left feet."

Craig dug the knife in deeper by saying that Simon has been doing "the leg work" in finding stars to come on 'Strictly' because of the likes of Caroline Flack, who won the competition in 2014, after hosting 'The X Factor's sister show, 'The Xtra Factor'.

He said "We have celebrities whereas on 'The X Factor' they're wannabes hoping to be famous.

"I'd love to keep 'The X Factor' going because I've employed Alexandra Burke in my 'Sister Act' show.

"Simon Cowell is doing all the leg work for me in finding stars."