James Arthur should be 'more grateful' says X Factor judge Louis Walsh

Walsh said the singer should remember what the show has done for him

X Factor judge Louis Walsh has criticised last year's winner James Arthur for not being respectful enough (Getty Images)

Last year’s X Factor winner James Arthur should be more “grateful” and respect other acts, judge Louis Walsh has said.

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The "Recovery" singer found himself in the midst of a heated controversy last month when he used the homophobic lyric "you f**king queer" in a rap and attacked his fellow contestant Lucy Spraggan when she criticised his faux-pas.

Arthur apologised live on air after performing on the X Factor results show a few Sundays ago, saying how he felt ashamed to have “abused” his privileged position as a winner.

“It’s been an amazing year for me. There’s been some amazing highs but also some lows,” he told the ITV audience. “I’ve made some very silly mistakes. I want to thank the X Factor for giving me this opportunity. I owe everything to this thing.”

But the best-selling star has to prove himself to Walsh, who told OK! magazine: “He’s a competition winner that got lucky. He came from a little bedsit, he should be a lot more grateful and a lot more respectful to everybody.

“Don’t get me going. Nicole [Scherzinger] worked so hard with him last year – she got him into the final. He doesn’t look comfortable in his own skin. He has talent – “Impossible” was a huge song - but he’s not Bob Dylan.”

The 61-year old Irish manager has two acts in the final this year, Luke Friend and Nicholas MacDonald.

“I hope he’s learned his lesson. You can’t be slagging off One Direction, you can’t slag off success,” he added. “I think they’re good role models and shows the pop business is alive and well.”

After James Arthur won the show in 2012, Walsh described him as “quirky and musical enough to do very well”, assuring fans that he was “not just another karaoke singer, not [2009 winner] Joe McElderry, the very opposite”.

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This year's X Factor will reach its grand finale on Sunday, when Sam Bailey, Luke Friend and Nicholas MacDonald compete to win the series and bid for the Christmas number one.