Louis Walsh has admitted that he is quietly confident’ that one of his groups can win this year’s X Factor.

Walsh told BBC Newsbeat: “I’m quietly confident. Listen, I got to the final last year with JLS. They’re the big success act.

“I got there with G4. I won it with Shayne [Ward]. I could be in the final this year. Only one act is going to win. 11 are going to go home. It’s wide open, I think.”

He added: “I’ve got two very good girl bands. [John & Edward] can only get better. They’re young, they’re inexperienced, they’ve no sob story.

“I had a few reasons for putting them through. One of the reasons [was to annoy Simon Cowell]. I didn’t put them through because they’re Irish.”

I notice that Louis seems to be taking some sort of credit for JLS’s recent chart success. Of course we all know that had he been managing them, they would have pumped out one album of motown covers then quietly disappeared into obscurity.