Gary Barlow slams Simon Cowell for ‘waving a contract’ at talent show contestants

Gary Barlow has seemingly hit out at Simon Cowell for "waving a contract" at musicians and not promising success.

The 45-year-old Take That singer is currently gearing up to start his own UK talent show ‘Let It Shine’ – which aims to find five singers who will form a Take That tribute act and will star in a musical in London’s West End – and has seemingly slammed the music mogul, who embarks on yearly searches for talent on ‘The X Factor’, for handing out recording contracts that don’t necessarily bring success.

Speaking to The Mirror newspaper, the ‘Back For Good’ hitmaker said: "This is for a job, it is not someone waving a contract. The record business is very hard now I can’t even predict what is going to be successful or not.

"But with this I was able to sit there and say the reason you are here today is a job. We are going to give you an opportunity to play around the UK eight shows a week. By the end of the year I hope these will be the start of careers of years to come."

The dig comes after it was previously reported that Simon, 57, was considering taking legal action against the ‘Rule the World’ singer if the format is too similar to ‘The X Factor’.

A source explained: "Simon’s team is keeping a close eye on Gary’s show.

"They want to make sure that it’s completely different to his own projects – otherwise there could be trouble.

"As the trailblazer in the TV talent show sector, it’s no surprise Cowell wants to protect his brand.

"He keeps an eye on all the developments in the industry as they could impact on his business."

Simon and Gary have become rivals ever since the music mogul suggested the singer-songwriter – who was previously hired as a judge on the UK singing competition – was to blame for falling ratings of ‘The X Factor’.