Simon Cowell has had his say after his former X Factor colleagues Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh painted a less-than-flattering picture of him during their stint on Celebrity Big Brother.
The TV mogul came up in the conversation last month when Sharon and Louis were still in the CBB house, during which they accused Simon of “cutting people off” and laid into both him and the various talent shows he’s worked on over the years.
While the clip went on to become one of CBB’s most viral moments of the revival series (and sparked an impassioned response from Simon’s BGT colleague Amanda Holden), it turns out the man himself won’t be holding it against his old co-stars.
“If you put Sharon and Louis in the house, that’s what you pay them for, they’re going to be controversial,” he told The Mirror.
“I still consider Sharon and Louis really good friends, we could pick up the phone to each other tomorrow.”
“I think that’s probably one of the things they’re upset about, because they can never get hold of me,” he continued.
Responding to Sharon’s more recent back-and-forth with Amanda Holden, Simon claimed: “Amanda is a great friend, but I really do believe Sharon and Louis are great friends as well.
“I don’t have a phone but from what I heard, what they said about me was actually quite funny. And I probably will phone them both in the next week or so, because I haven’t spoken to them for a while and it sounds like I should do.”
He added: “Whenever I meet them, see them, speak to them, it’s like we’ve spoken yesterday. My honest opinion is I think we miss each other.”
Sharon and Simon last worked together on X Factor during its 14th series, back in 2017.
Louis was also a judge on the show’s celebrity season in 2018, alongside Simon and Nicole Scherzinger, after which The X Factor was rested indefinitely.