Robbie Williams has been winding up his fellow 'X Factor' judges by singing 'We Are The Champions'.

X Factor judges

X Factor judges

The 44-year-old singer is so confident that an act from his category - the groups - will be successful in the competition that he has taken to singing the song repeatedly, to the annoyance of his fellow judges Simon Cowell, Louis Tomlinson and his own wife Ayda Field.

A source told The Sun's Bizarre column: "It's still really early in the process, especially as viewers haven't had their say yet.

"But Robbie is convinced he's got it in the bag and his wife Ayda Field, Simon Cowell and Louis Tomlinson have all had to admit he has a strong category."

Robbie, former actress Ayda and One Direction star Louis have all joined the panel for the first time this year and Robbie recently defended Ayda's place on the line-up.

He said: "Ayda is my rock. She has looked after me through thick and thin, and absolutely every career move I've made over the last 12 years has been OK'd by my wife. Ayda's a member of the general public too, and the general public usually get it right. Ayda does know about music but nobody has a formula for what's going to make a pop star. If we got anybody from the street then their opinion would be just as valid too."

Ayda, 39, added: "If it wasn't a challenge it wouldn't be so much fun. I'm excited to be the underdog and show the boys how it's done.

"Without me Rob would be lost. And the fact that we get to work together and against each other is very exciting. We are so competitive. We compete about everything, even when we're reading bedtime stories to the kids."

And she has shown that she is more than capable of standing up to Mr Nasty, Simon Cowell, as she went up against him at a recent audition and won.

After Simon rejected two female contestants at auditions, Ayda fought for them to be given a second chance as a duo, and she won.

A source said previously: "Ayda challenged Simon behind the scenes over his decision to not give them a second change.

"He told the girls, Aaliyah and Acacia, it was the end of the road. But they really impressed Ayda so she went backstage and asked them to return as a group soon after.

"Simon was insistent it was a bad idea but they sang 'Bang Bang' when they re-auditioned and the crowd, and Simon, were blown away. They got a standing ovation."

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