Simon Cowell has hit back at “idiot” Sting for branding his reality TV shows as “televised karaoke”.

The former Police frontman blasted Cowell last year, saying that his shows American Idol and The X Factor humiliate contestants in a bid to achieve high ratings.

Sting said, “The X Factor is a preposterous show and you have judges who have no recognizable talent apart from self-promotion, advising them (contestants) what to wear and how to look. It is appalling.”

During his interview for Piers Morgan’s Life StoriesSimon hit back saying:

“First of all, anybody who at the age of 60 calls himself Sting is an idiot.

“I find those kind of people… who come from quite humble beginnings and they’re (now) living in these stately homes, professing to know everything about everything in the world, and what the contestants may or may not feel… They can say that because they’ve got everything they want in their lives, but what they’re really saying is anybody else who needs a shot shouldn’t be allowed to do it.”