X Factor's Cher Lloyd has apologised to former mentor Cheryl Cole for a "little joke" which led to an apparent spat between the singer and her protegee.

It came after a radio interview in which the teenager said she would perform live with Cheryl only if the former judge was allowed to use 'auto-tune' technology to correct her voice.

But Cher has now dismissed her comments as 'word vomit' and said she had not intended to take a swipe at the star.

"Basically I said something on radio that I shouldn't have said and it wasn't intended to sound as bad as it did," she told ITV's Daybreak.

"All I was saying was that I would love to perform with her live and then I made a little joke... I want to say sorry to her if she found that offensive.

"At the end of the day, she was the person who got me where I am today.

"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be where I was. I'm in the public eye now so word vomit isn't good," she said.

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