The X Factor judge Simon Cowell has hit out at former contestant Jake Quickenden following his decision to appear on I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!. Jake, who was voted off the X Factor in the third week of live shows, entered the jungle just weeks after his departure from the talent competition. The 26-year-old went on to finish in second place as Carl Fogarty was crowned King of the Jungle. Speaking about whether it's important to win the X Factor in order to have a successful music career, Simon said: "I think in any competition, if you don't want to win, that tells me you haven't got that killer instinct to do well in the real world, if you're happy to come fourth or tenth and end up in the jungle…"
Jake Quickenden went on to appear in I'm a Celebrity... after leaving the X Factor
While Louis Walsh interjected "Miaow", Simon continued: "It's not 'Miaow', it's true. What we want on this show are people who come to be recording artists in the real world. I mean it's just the way it is. Nice guy, but he could have gone on the jungle first and then come on the show." The judges were gathered with finalists Fleur East, Ben Haenow and Andrea Faustini for the X Factor press conference ahead of Saturday night's final. Andrea's mentor Mel B was noticeably absent as she was ill. Simon also took the opportunity to express his joy at Fleur's chart success following her performance of Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' track Uptown Funk in the semi-final.
Simon Cowell said they're looking for contestants who want to be recording artists
"Fleur's record actually did go to number one on iTunes and probably will go back to number one on iTunes, even though the original record's suddenly come out," he said. The X Factor judge had faced criticism from Lily Allen for choosing the unreleased track for his act on Saturday night. Taking to her Twitter account, the singer wrote: "Well done to Simon Cowell for managing to get a not yet released song of theirs sung on prime weekend telly. "It is an amazing song. Fleur did it justice but it's still a great example of music industry corruption #uptownfunk". The X Factor Final airs on ITV on 13 December.