Robbie Williams may have landed himself in hot water after jokingly calling Cheryl Cole "a bit of a slapper."

The 'Candy' singer has an axe to grind with the Geordie beauty after she took his usual role as Gary Barlow's guest judge to help him whittle down all the contestants on The X Factor.

During an interview with Capital FM, Robbie jokingly said that Cheryl is a bit of a slapper for taking his role on the show, before admitting that he is "gutted" to have been swapped in favour of the 'Call My Name' singer.

"As long as there is an X Factor, there’s going to be a Robbie Williams on the X Factor – as long as people are still watching it," Robbie added.

Cheryl's brief return to the show came as a shock considering she quit her role as a judge in 2010 to join the US version, but was then sacked by Simon Cowell from the American counterpart after failing to impress the audience.

Would you rather see Robbie join Gary at Judges' Houses?

Cheryl Cole's Dating History In Pictures...