Joe McElderry may one day collaborate with N-Dubz

The clean-cut 'Ambitions' singer has struck up an unlikely friendship with the group's frontman Dappy after the rapper pledged his support to Joe on British TV show 'The X Factor', which he won in 2009.

Joe said: "He was really supportive of me on 'The X Factor' and then I met him at the airport a few weeks ago. He was really nice, saying that he was looking forward to hearing the album. He's a really nice lad. But we're quite different!"

When asked if a collaboration between him and the 'Strong Again' group was likely, Joe replied:

"You never know, stranger things have happened!"

Joe added that he has taken an active role in putting his debut album, 'Wide Awake' together, and he stood up to music mogul Simon Cowell when it came to picking songs for the album.

He added: "There have been one or two disagreements. There was one song that I wasn't too keen on doing and I let Simon know.

"He was like, 'OK, fine', but he respects my opinion because I'm the one who has to get up there and perform."