G4's Ansell slams 'X Factor' sob stories

Former X Factor star Jonathan Ansell has described the new series of the talent search as "cringeworthy".

The opera singer, whose group G4 finished second to Steve Brookstein in 2004, said there were too many "sob stories" in last Saturday's first episode.

The Press Association quotes him as saying: "Simon [Cowell] has gone all out to Americanise it with the helicopters, the cars, and glamming it up. I think that worked incredibly well but I got incredibly frustrated with the sob stories as [it] went on.

"You need to give people the benefit of the doubt from their performance and then later on in the show maybe show what's happened in their life. But to do it so early on I found a bit cringeworthy and frustrating."

Ansell added: "Overall I found the show entertaining but it was just that element that bugged me."