Barlow 'all right' over losing acts

Gary Barlow has claimed he is "all right" after losing two of his acts from The X Factor, but refused to commit himself to another series.

The singer-songwriter had expressed his bewilderment after Melanie Masson was given the boot from the talent show on Sunday.

But during a visit to the Brit School - which counts Adele, Jessie J and Amy Winehouse among its former pupils - the X Factor judge said he wasn't surprised to lose acts from his over-28s category.

"I'm all right at the moment. I think historically the overs and the bands usually leave first, so we're in this sort of area right now, where a week on we're losing acts. But I'm confident moving forward," he insisted.

Gary described speculation about rows between the judges as "the soap opera of the show". He said: "I don't read the newspapers from this point because of that. I think I would be going on every week wanting to apologise or rectify things that have been written."

The 41-year-old Take That star added that he was delighted with the programme overall and that there is some "incredible talent on there".

But when questioned as to whether he would remain as a judge for another series, he replied: "We don't even get asked until the New Year."

While at the Brit School, Gary critiqued young singer-songwriters and offered advice on how to break into the charts. He told the students he was still dedicated to improving his own talents.

"It just feels like I'm always chasing this industry, all the time. I'm always trying to better myself. I'm never happy, I'm never satisfied."

He added: "There's millions of people out there writing songs and there's only a tiny few who are fortunate enough to get success from it. Just chase it. It's great fun, isn't it? It's torture, it's great fun, it's bliss, it's hell. It's all of those things, but it's amazing."