The X Factor's Jake Quickenden has hit back at Louis Walsh, after the judge commented on his gym commitments.

The 26-year-old singer from Scunthorpe saw his dreams on the show come to an end for the second time, when he was voted out of the latest episode by judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Louis Walsh following a "horrible" sing-off with quartet Only The Young.

His mentor Mel B sang his praises as she struggled to talk through tears, calling him " an amazing guy".

It came after Louis remarked that Jake should have spent more time with the vocal coach than in the gym.

"For me, it's not just about the singing, I wanted to keep in shape and there's nothing wrong with that," Jake explained.

"I wanted to go to the gym - that's what I do when I'm back at home. I worked as hard as anyone else on my vocals and I practised every single day. It's not like I was in the gym all day or at every hour, I was only there for an hour each day - but that's Louis. He says some funny things sometimes."

And Jake joked: " I said to him, I can give him a personal training session because he looks a bit out of shape."

It was second time unlucky for the aspiring singer. He failed to get through to the live stages after being sent home by Nicole Scherzinger during the judges' houses round two years ago in 2012.

"That's all I wanted to be honest. I feel I could have done myself better, I could have sang better and then hopefully I would have stayed in," he said. "But I was just happy to be there. It was class and hopefully it will bring bigger and better things."

His renditions of She's Like The Wind, from Dirty Dancing, and Daniel Merriweather's Red in the sing-off didn't impress the judges, with Simon describing the latter as "horrible".

"Maybe the pressure got to me a little bit. I went flat on a couple of the notes but it's really nerve-wracking," Jake admitted.

"It's actually indescribable. You get so nervous, your mouth dries up. It's massive pressure but that's what we're in it for. We're going to get pressure, we're in the public eye, we're on TV singing in front of millions but it's something we have to deal with.

"Everything happens for a reason and it was my time to go, and now is my time to try something different, keep moving forward and keep doing my thing."

Jake said he will not chase another stint on The X Factor, but is looking to release his own music as well as get into presenting and acting.

"I wouldn't do the show again because I've just done the live shows, so there'd be no point in that. It's an amazing show and an amazing platform but now I think it's time to get my own music out there and show people what I can do," he said.

" I'd rather have been noticed for my music than anything else. Hopefully now I'm releasing my own music I've written and played, people will think I'm a good musician and songwriter. I'm up for anything now.

"Maybe (I could even) do some acting and presenting. I'd love to go on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! - all that kind of stuff would be mint."

Jake, who was in the boys category alongside Paul Akister, Andrea Faustini and Jack Walton, is backing Paul, Jack and Ben Haenow - who is in Simon's over 25s group - to win.

"I'd like to see Paul, Ben or Jack win it. They're all really talented guys," he said.

"Ben and Paul have got incredible voices and I can definitely see them in the final. If Jack gets it right, he could do really well."