Rockers Kasabian have slated The X Factor, calling it “appalling”.

The British indie rockers showed no love for the ITV singing competition, with band member Tom Meighan telling Zoo magazine: “It is f****** terrible, it’s an appalling way of fooling the public and making money to make money.

“There’s your f****** Jedward toy, now go and buy it. Very clever.”

Lead guitarist Serge Pizzorno added: “Throughout history, people have always worked out ways of getting money out of mums and dads, whether it’s McDonald’s or The X Factor. They’re tricked into shelling out money for this t*** that they put out. Simon Cowell’s just a businessman out to make lots of money.”

Tom also bemoaned the state of the music industry today, particularly the lack of bands playing enormous shows.

“No one’s big enough any more. There aren’t any big indie bands around – and probably just us, Arctic Monkeys and Muse who like to put on a big show. That’s it,” he said.

Serge added: “We’re as big as we can possibly be in this generation. I mean, we’ve sold more records than U2 this year. That’s good enough for me.”