Susan Boyle has sold well over eight million albums and has legions of fans around the globe, but it seems Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is not one of them.

The opera legend slammed Britain's Got Talent, the show Subo found fame on and also layed into The X Factor after her own search for a classical singing star was compared to the reality shows.

In an interview the New Zealand born singer said of Boyle: "Move on. I'm doing something classical, not whizz-bang."

"You insult me by even wanting to bring it into this conversation. I'm not interested. [My competition] has nothing to do with The X Factor, which I can't bear. It's whipped up for one night and it's over," she added.

Te Kanawa, 66, who recently won the Lifetime Achievement honour at the Classical Brit Awards said: "My show is everything to do with finding a true singer. It's a mission because I'm capable of bringing talent forward, which is not being done enough."