Great Totham singer Sam Callahan has vowed to ignore Gary Barlow after he was slated on the latest X Factor show.

After hearing the 19-year-old's Disco Week performance of Take That's Relight My Fire, the band's frontman, judge Gary Barlow said Sam was the worst singer in the contest.

Barlow told him: "I have to tell you, I hated that performance tonight, I really did. I thought the vocals were really exposed.

"The thing for me is you're not the best singer in the competition. The problem for you is everyone else is so much better than you."

Sam’s dad, Mark, 52, who runs a recruitment technology business, said Sam has decided to ignore Gary from now on.

He said: “As far as Sam is concerned, Gary has been put in a bottle with the lid screwed on. He doesn’t care what Gary says anymore.

“I think Sam has got caught up in the tactics of it all. Gary knew Kingston Road were vulnerable and he had an opportunity to destroy Sam’s credibility.

“All he wanted to do was slate Sam.

“We knew he was going to be in for a tough time. He wasn’t that happy with the song choice, it was one that Take That had covered.”

Mr Callahan wanted to thank all Sam’s supporters for backing his son and ensuring he was put through to the next stage of the competition.