Alexandra Burke has claimed that she has missed out on many Brit Award nominations, because of her association with Simon Cowell.

Cowell recently said that his acts were shunned by the Brits for not being “cool enough”.

In this year’s nominations Alex only features in the fans’ choice Best Single category for her single ‘Bad Boys.’

Alex told The Mirror: “I’ll always defend Simon – even if that means I’m not nominated for a few Brits.

“I’ve loved the Brits since I was a young girl and it’s been my dream to sing at them. It would be amazing. If Simon thinks they’re against him, well, I don’t know.

“But I am associated with him – he is my boss and, I’m sorry, but I’ll always stick up for him. He is absolutely fantastic. I hope next year I do get to perform at the Brits.

“But really, I’m just happy to be nominated at all, in any category, ‘cos there a lot of people out there who aren’t and are kicking themselves.”