Luke Lucas

Gary Barlow has insisted that Luke Lucas was too young to deal with the pressure that comes with being on the X Factor.

The Take That star was seen last night sending the 16 year old singer home and choosing four other hopefuls to take to the upcoming live shows this weekend.

However, speaking to the Sun, Gary said that the time wasn’t right for the bubbly singer believing that breaking into the music business at such a young age can actually be damaging for children and teenagers.

Lucas messed up his words at bootcamp and performed badly because of timing issues at judges houses. Explaining his breakdown, Barlow said:

“Luke is too young. It was too much for him, no wonder he cracked.

“Sixteen is just too young to be in a competition with this kind of pressure.”

Robbie Williams assisted Gary in LA and knows what it’s like to be a young boy in a grown up business, after all he joined Take That when he was just 16 years old. However, he wouldn’t let his own child go the same route and added:

“If it was my son or my daughter I don’t think I’d be pushing them that early.

“Eighteen or 19 maybe. You’ve found yourself, you’ve left school, hung out with mates, earned some money.

“You’ve been anonymous and done your fun things. At 16 it takes your b******* off.

Simon Cowell may not be too pleased by the men’s comments, after all he has just launched a new American series where children as young as 12 are invited to apply and on Britain’s Got Talent, there is no age limit at all.

However, we think we’d have to aide with the Take That boys and agree that there is no way we’d allow our children to apply for a show like The X Factor, which chews up and spits out their contestants, without a second thought.

Leave your comments on the subject below and check out the official final 16 X Factor contestants, as announced last night, here.