(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Russell Crowe says he loves watching reality television.

The Australian actor is well-known for his serious film roles such as his Oscar-winning performance in epic movie Gladiator. He also famously has a bad temper and has got into a number of scuffles in the past few years.

But Russell has revealed he likes to relax by watching peoples lives unfold on TV, especially with his wife, singer Danielle Spencer. One of his favourite programmes is singing contest The X Factor, which he realises will make him appear less cool to his legions of fans.

I watch The X Factor... we use that as our date night. I know that probably sounds pretty sad to some of you people out there, he told Extra.

The 46-year-old who is a keen guitarist and singer and belongs to a band called The Ordinary Fear of God went on to reveal that, if he were younger, he would be willing to join in too. The actor puts this down to a competitive nature.

I know if I was 20 now, Id be lining up with everybody else, trying to have ago, he said.

Russell and Danielle have two sons together, Charles and Tennyson. (C) Cover Media