Vickers: 'I'm really glad I didn't win'

Diana Vickers has said that she is happy that she did not win last year's X Factor.

The singer was the ninth act to be voted off the show in 2008 after her performances of Avril Lavigne's 'Girlfriend' and Dido's 'White Flag'.

Vickers told the Burnley Citizen: "I'm really glad I didn't win. It's great to not have been manufactured into something I'm not, or forced into getting an album out quickly to get back on TV.

"I feel like I've got so much freedom and that I'm really getting my teeth into life. It's great."

Of the current series, she added: "It's very surreal for me to watch. I thought I wouldn't have been able to even switch it on without feeling sick but, surprisingly I can sit down and watch it and have a laugh watching it.

"I know what's going through the contestants' minds and it's such a rare experience to be on The X Factor that, although I don't know this year's contestants, I feel like I've got a connection with them."

Last year's winner Alexandra Burke has rejected claims that Simon Cowell may exercise too much control over her musical direction.