Rylan Clark-Neal reveals real reason he quit This Morning as he clears up Twitter backlash

Rylan Clark-Neal has revealed that the real reason why he left This Morning was that he needed some "time to myself".

The showbiz buff – who rose to fame on The X Factor in 2012 – announced his decision to quit the daytime show live on air just before Christmas.

He then posted a tweet on his social media account, which he later deleted, saying that he “needed a break after working constantly for five years”.

His tweet sparked immense backlash as some were quick to mock the star taking a break and suggested that he “try a real job”.

Speaking on Monday's Lorraine, Clark-Neal said: "If I'm being completely honest, I just need some time to myself. And I put a tweet out saying I've worked constantly for five years and I got a lot of insults.

"And I get that, but what I'm saying is, I've not had time off. I've not had Christmas or summer off, and just for my head I just need mornings back for a while.”

He continued: "[The break is] just really, really nice. It's nice to focus on me personally than Rylan at work. To sit there and say to any job, whether it's This Morning or Big Brother or any other job that you need some time off, it's tough."

The former Celebrity Big Brother winner then assured viewers that he would return to the magazine show “at some point”.

For now, Clark-Neal is still presenting Big Brother’s Bit On The Side which airs on Channel 5.