Former X Factor winner, Leona Lewis, has said that she is can’t understand why people criticise her ‘nice’ image.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan Leona says that it’s no bad thing to be respectful.

She commented: “People are always saying, ‘She’s really sweet’, and it’s like, ‘I’ve been brought up properly by my parents and I’m respectful to people’.

“So I think, ‘What, is it bad to be a good person?’ I don’t think so.”

However, Leona says that she will stand up for herself when necessary.

“I’m quite quiet and it takes me a while to come out of myself and be comfortable,” she admitted. “But just because I’m polite and nice doesn’t mean I can be pushed over. I’m not confrontational, but I will speak my mind.”