[3] "Commercialism, sappy lyrics and meek tunes are the things I hate most in the universe, but I'm not sure even Bob Dylan could get record company interest without hooks these days", Bedingfield recalled in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

On the positive side, Peter Robinson, in the Gotta Get Thru This album review for the New Musical Express (NME), wrote "If You're Not the One [recalls] every chart-mauling uber-ballad you've ever heard".

[7] Nedd Raggett of AllMusic commented in his album review "When it comes to ballads, they work best in sudden moments – the soaring end to If You're Not the One".

PopMatters' Nikki Tranter wrote "surely you would think with his obviously overwhelming ability to compose utter claptrap cleverly disguised as serious prophesizing, his lyrics might contain something a little more expressive than 'If you're not the one / Why does my heart feel glad today / If you're not the one / Then why does my hand fit yours this way.

'"[11] In his review for musicOMH, Michael Hubbard was even less positive, stating, "If You're Not the One is as vomit-inducing as anything the man in the plastic mask has ever wretched (sic) forth at the world".

[14] The single proved to be a successful release for Bedingfield, providing him with several worldwide number ones and reaching the top 20 in all but one of the charts that it appeared on.

It debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart, knocking Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty" from the top spot.