Simon Cowell was forced to miss the first half of ‘X Factor’ auditions on Tuesday (4 July), due to a sudden illness.
The music mogul took the morning to rest up, leaving Nicole Scherzinger to step up to the plate as head judge in his absence.
An insider told the newspaper: “Nicole really stepped up to the plate without Simon there and everyone said she absolutely dominated — but in a good way.”
However, as the day went on, Simon decided he was feeling well enough to join the rest of the panel, and returned to the auditions in the afternoon.
The source continued: “Simon didn’t feel well early in the day so had to have a bit of a slower start to the day than usual.
Earlier in the filming process, Nicole Scherzinger missed a day of filming due to a prior diary commitment, with Alesha Dixon filling in for her.
Later, Sharon Osbourne was forced to fly to LA due to a back injury, with regular ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ judge Alesha stepping in once again.
After a shaky couple of years, ‘X Factor’ will return to our screens in the autumn, and it’s been reported that Simon has a few changes up his sleeve in a bid to keep things fresh.
It’s been said that producers are dialing down on novelty acts this year, while simultaneously filming at Thorpe Park.
Watch this space to see how that works out...