Collins speaks about 'Rock Rivals' role

Michelle Collins has insisted that the characters on her new TV drama Rock Rivals are not direct copies of the X Factor judges.

The actress plays talent show panellist Karina Faith on the ITV1 programme, which also stars former Coronation Street actor Sean Gallagher (Paul Connor) as Karina's husband Mal.

Though Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh were both involved in the show's development, Michelle does not believe that they had any direct influence on the cast's performances.

"That didn't have any impact on me or Sean either, to be honest," she told the Daily Record. "I've never met Sharon Osbourne. The thing with a drama like this is that it's loosely based.

"We're actors. I play a lot of different types of characters, and I don't always have contact with the type of person I'm playing. We're not mimicking characters. We're just telling a story."

Michelle also admitted that she is not a huge fan of talent competitions - and only watched X Factor last year because her daughter Maia enjoys the show.

"Leon [Jackson, who won the series] was very talented, but I wouldn't say he was my favourite," she explained. "And let's face it there are a lot of Leons out there, aren't there? The ones I thought were really talented went out earlier in the competition last time around anyway.

"And as for The One And Only on BBC1? Oh my God. Is that what the BBC are spending money on? What's going on here?"

Rock Rivals starts on Wednesday at 9pm on ITV1.