Gary Barlow calls for X Factor Twitter ban

Gary Barlow and his fellow judges had a busy night on 'The X Factor' (Rex Features)

X Factor judge Gary Barlow wants contestants to have their phones confiscated - to stop them using Twitter during the live shows.

He believes the wannabes should be barred from using them during the live shows because they spend too long on them and focus on negative comments from viewers.

Barlow spoke out about the hopefuls' Twitter use during the judges' houses stage of the contest.

It comes after the Take That star was the target of an internet troll, Kenneth Tong, who made a series of sick jokes about the singer's stillborn daughter Poppy.

Barlow said: "Last year's contestants spent too much time on Twitter when they should have been spending the time working on their songs and performances."

Speaking at Boughton House in Northamptonshire, where he is based for this stage of the contest, he said contestants were letting the occasional criticism outweigh the upbeat comments on social networking sites.

"They'd look at 100 comments and 99 would be positive but all they would think about was the one that was negative. It's not good for them," Barlow said.

"If they didn't see Twitter, it would be much better for them. If I have my way, I'll take their phones off them as soon as they go into the contestants' house.

"The X Factor is hard work. They need to put all their energies into their performances, rather than worrying about who has said what about them on Twitter."

PA