Downton Abbey star Brendan Coyle reckons that TV talent shows such as The X Factor give young people false notions about themselves.
The Anglo-Irish actor, who plays Bates in the hugely popular period drama, criticised the Simon Cowell series in the Radio Times for creating a generation of youngsters unaware of their limitations.
"I would have loved to have been a footballer like my great uncle Matt Busby, but I knew quite early on that I wasn't going to make the grade," he said.
"Luckily I was told by the age of 13 that I wasn't good enough. That's not a bad thing. You see this X Factor generation of kids now who don't accept that they're not good enough."
Coyle next stars in Sky One’s new comedy drama Starlings, which begins next Sunday May 13th.
