Simon Cowell has broken his silence on the departure of former “The X Factor” judge, British singer Cheryl Cole, and the decision to move forward with the show, with Nicole Scherzinger taking over the vacant seat.
“All that happened was I said to her, ‘cause we have a lot of shows around the world, that I wanted her to front the UK show and that was it and she said, ‘No,’ ” Cowell told Access Hollywood on Thursday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Cowell revealed that although Cole was axed from the show, the Brit will still appear on TV when the show hits FOX this fall.
“Yeah, you’re gonna see her on the show,” Cowell said.
The British judge and “The X Factor” boss said the way things happened with Cole left a tear in their relationship (the two were both judges on the British version of the show, prior to filming this upcoming American installment).
“You know, whenever you do anything in public it’s horrible, but that’s what happens when you make these shows,” he told Access. “I hope that we’re gonna be friends going forward. She’ll be mad at me for awhile, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Following Cole's forced exit, show co-host Scherzinger was moved to the judges’ chair, a seat she actually occupied in the UK once before, when Cole was sick with malaria.
Cowell told Access there was no other choice to fill Cole’s seat.
“What else are we gonna do? She would’ve killed me if I’d a chosen anyone else,” Cowell explained of putting Scherzinger on the judges’ bench. “I literally would have been killed.”