Gary Barlow spent a lot of time talking to Simon Cowell before starting X Factor

X Factor judge Gary Barlow said he spent a lot of time with Simon Cowell getting advice before starting the show.

The 40-year-old Take That singer has taken over from Cowell on the judging panel in the UK along with N-Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos, Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland and existing judge Louis Walsh.

Barlow said to UK's Hello! magazine: "Simon's the master of this show, he really is. I've spent a lot of time with him over the last few months and when he talks, you listen.

"The key piece of advice for all of us is to be ourselves and it really is a big challenge for me, because I'm used to sitting on the sofa and talking about an album.

"These are real situations: someone walks on that stage, anything can happen and we've seen the sublime to the ridiculous. So you're just always acting on your instincts all the time. It's been a ride."

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