Louis Walsh has rubbed salt in Simon Cowell's wounds about last year's lacklustre series of 'The X Factor'.
The returning judge - who was axed in 2015 in favour of Nick Grimshaw, only to be reinstated this year - has claimed he loved watching the show flop without him.
Speaking on BBC Radio 2, Louis said: “It's the most talked-about show on TV. I know I wasn't there last year - and it wasn't as good. But I'm back.
“My contract wasn’t picked up last year, I was half expecting it, so it was fine because I had lots of things to do.
“I think being away from the show was a really good thing for me because ratings weren’t good. I knew watching the first show that it wasn’t going to work, so I was going, ‘Yes!’.”
He added: “I called Simon really late that night and told him what I thought, I said, “You’ve messed with it too much, it’s not working’, and he didn’t say anything for a second and then he said, ‘Maybe you’re right’.”
Louis is returning to the ITV talent show for the latest series, alongside Simon, Nicole Scherzinger and Sharon Osbourne.
Auditions are set to kick off in Leicester on Friday (10 June), but it is currently unclear if Simon and host Dermot O'Leary will be able to attend after both falling ill.
'The X Factor' returns to ITV in the autumn.
