The X Factor's Sam Black reveals illness has forced him on vocal rest ahead of this weekend

"I’m coming down with a bit of a cold to be honest, but I’m just going to rest loads and hopefully I’ll be fine for Sunday," Sam told RadioTimes.com and other press.

Revealing that his voice "started going" during rehearsals, Sam then said he's going to be on vocal rest ahead of singing I'm Your Man on Sunday night for George Michael week.

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On whether he would consider not performing due to his illness and getting a pass through to next week, Sam said: "No matter what, I’m going to go out there and do my best anyway."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKC7VftxCZ4

This Sunday, Louis Walsh's Boys category will go up against Sharon Osbourne's Girls with Nicole Scherzinger's Overs and Simon Cowell's Groups going head-to-head on Saturday night.

After Sam performed a mash-up of La Bamba and Twist & Shout by Ritchie Valens and The Beatles last weekend, Simon called the song choices "lazy" and said they came "from Louis' own jukebox at home".

However, Sam had this to say in response. "To be fair, it was actually my choice to sing that. I came up with the idea.

"But I'm still in shock every time I speak to Simon. Do you know what, I'd be happy for Simon to say 'you're terrible' every week, just to be speaking to him every week. I'm just really grateful to be here – even if I'm getting bad comments, I'm still here."

The X Factor airs Saturdays and Sundays on ITV