Cheryl Cole has branded the Spice Girls "b****es" whose success has been overblown.

The Girls Aloud singer - who is currently starring as a judge on UK TV talent show 'The X Factor' - claims the 90s group don't deserve to be lauded as pop icons because their reunion was so short-lived and they are not as talented as her band.

Cheryl revealed she finds it infuriating when people on 'The X Factor' say they want to be "the new Spice Girls", adding her group's success is much more impressive.

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She told Attitude magazine: "I think, 'P**s off!' We've been around for six years - they were around for 18 months! We recognise what the Spice Girls did, but it really annoys me when you meet girls who go, 'We wannabe the next Spice Girls.'

"Yes, they had worldwide domination, but they fell out, b****ed about each other and went their separate ways. We've been around for all this time, fighting to climb each step of the ladder, putting our hearts into everything."

The 25-year-old singer added that, unlike the Spice Girls, her group - consisting of Nadine Coyle, 23, Sarah Harding, 26, Nicole Roberts, 23, and Kimberly Walsh, 26 - are all "friends".

Girls Aloud formed on TV talent show 'Popstars: The Rivals' in 2002 and have gone on to score a record-breaking 18 top 10 UK singles, three of them number ones.