'Come on Nicole, you've got ears'

Nicole Scherzinger stunned viewers when she chose Rylan Clark to be in her final three Boys on The X Factor.

And while she certainly believes in the Essex wannabe, her fellow judge Gary Barlow certainly doesn't think he can sing.

Appearing on tonight's episode of The Jonathan Ross Show, when the host brought up Rylan, Gary said: 'Come on Nicole, you’ve got ears.'               

Defending her act, Nicole replied: 'His voice has grown and he’s not a big ballad singer, he’s a great performer.'

Despite disagreeing over her act and their jousting on the panel, Gary insists the judges are actually quite close in real-life: 'I think we’re all quite protective of each other although the gloves do come off on a Saturday night.

'We have a go at each other, we have a few jokes and we pick on each other, but none of it comes off the stage. It’s all for the fun of the show.'