Gary Barlow is apparently still fuming about last week's deadlock controversy, and has suggested the show's reputation has suffered as a result.

The Louis Walsh took the competition to deadlock, which meant Carolynne Poole lost her place in the finals.

And Gary admitted that he had [uuid=d7f36465-e72a-4d4d-9b83-47d604ee293e]considered quitting the show[/uuid] as a result.

Speaking to the Daily Star Sunday, the 41-year-old singer songwriter said: "This show gets to me because it follows me round all week. And we are in it from now until Christmas. I hate it but I love it.

"Straight away after what happened last week I thought I don't want to do this any more.

"I just thought 'this isn't the way I imagined it to be. After what I've just seen, the singer who did the worst has stayed'."

Gaz also addressed the rumours that producer [uuid=500dbcaf-597b-4d0e-af9f-79b2dee9effa]Richard Holloway had told Louis to go to deadlock.[/uuid]

Gary said: "I hate the idea of it being fixed. The fact Rylan was in the bottom two shows things are changing and people want to see talent.

"But the whole thing about someone coming up on to the judges' chairs... there should be no one up on that stage with us [and] I've told them that. I do not want it to happen again. We've never had that before. I didn't see it last year."

He added: "I think in the short-term the reputation of the show has definitely been damaged. I know what I'm told by the public, by cabbies and stuff like that and people weren't happy last weekend. They thought their vote hadn't counted but it does count."

And despite appearing to forgive and forget with a handshake on Saturday's show (13 October), Gary insisted: "I haven't cleared the air with Louis but yes, he has gone down in my estimation. If Simon tried to tell me who to vote for I would say 'No'. Nobody tells me what to do."

The tension between the two judges is said to be causing concern for show bosses.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Gary has made it clear he doesn't think Louis is as relevant as some of the other judges.

"There is a worry that things could get out of hand... The fact ratings are actually down after all the publicity the row drew shows a lot of people aren't happy. The fear is that they can't be won back."

Another of Gary's acts, Melanie Masson, was [uuid=d68542a7-d52a-4894-a561-40ac0cc57fbf]voted off the show[/uuid] on Sunday.

[uuid=52440b59-a391-4181-80ec-003ec4154c8e]THE X FACTOR IS BACK FOR 2012! CHECK OUT PICS HERE[/uuid]