Gary Barlow: `X Factor auditions remind me of Take That`

The 40-year-old singer and X Factor judge was just a teenager when the man-band was first formed in the 90s. He said that seeing youngsters at the start of what could be their careers takes him right back.

'The very young auditionees definitely take me back to when I started out in the music industry. They bound on to the stage, so full of energy, and it really reminds me of my teenage years,' he told The Sun.

'They come on and they are so excited. It's great when you get good ones because you know you could help them on to the next stage of their career. It's a good feeling.'

And he believes that the talent show's bosses made the right choice in choosing him, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa Contostavlos to join Louis Walsh on the panel.

'Louis has already proved himself as the longest-standing judge so I'm aware that all eyes will be on the new judges to see what we will bring to the table.

'I just want to be here to help people and I want them to be able to look up to me and be able to say to me, 'Tell me, do I do this or this?'.

'I suppose in terms of who they could have picked to be the new judges alongside Louis, there's no one more valid than me, Kelly and Tulisa - because we're out there doing it right now.

'We're selling tickets, we're selling records. We're out there doing what these guys want to be doing.'