Matt Cardle opens up about the X Factor

X Factor winner Matt Cardle says he didn't want to go on the X Factor, but ended up doing so through desperation.

The 27-year-old former painter and decorator said he never intended to find fame through reality television, but finally decided to give it a go after fourteen years of rejection by the music industry.

"I didn't want to go down this route but I have, and I want to make it work for me, I want to try and make people see that you can be a credible singer-songwriter and use this platform" he told ITN in a candid interview.

But he rejects suggestions he compromised his integrity by going on the show, saying: "I don't think I've completely sold out, I mean there's things I've done over the past ten weeks that I would never [have done] but you've just got to...to put it better, you've just got to bend over."