Simon Cowell confirms Sharon Osbourne is back as TV talent show judge
Dream team including Louis Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger are back on this year’s panel
IT HAS been the worst kept secret in television that SHARON OSBOURNE was to return to X Factor.
I revealed last month there had been secret talks to bring her back and now the ITV show’s boss, SIMON COWELL, has confirmed it’s a done deal.
It means the old dream team of Sharon, Simon and LOUIS WALSH — as well as NICOLE SCHERZINGER — are this year’s panel.
When asked about Sharon while he was promoting the new series of America’s Got Talent, Simon confirmed: “I think she and I are going to work on a show together in the UK.
“We mainly have a love relationship. It is always back to love.”
Well, that is one way of looking at their fractious past.
Sharon once said Simon suffered from “small penis syndrome” and moaned that he fires everyone who works for him.
She also said at the time that Simon didn’t like her.
Simon, meanwhile, reckons Sharon will take husband OZZY back, despite the fact she’s accused him of infidelities with celebrity hair stylist Michelle Pugh — revealed by The Sun earlier this month.
He said: “I feel for her.
“When it is public it is embarrassing, right?
“So it is bad enough when it happens, if it is true, and when it’s public as well, it’s not great.
“I have known them a long time.
“I cannot ever see them apart.
“He will get a hard time and then hopefully she will bring him back.”
One person less forgiving is their daughter KELLY OSBOURNE who yesterday handled the affair in her own unique way.
She tweeted Michelle’s mobile number before asking followers to call her for “cheap chunky LOW-lights, a blow out and a b*** j**.
When her followers criticised her for doing so, she revealed: “Are you in my family? NO YOU ARE NOT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SHE DID!”
Don’t cross the Osbournes...
Want to audition?
Wannabes will be able to audition for this year’s X Factor via Facebook Live.
Returning host DERMOT O’LEARY launched the call for auditions yesterday with his own live message on the site.
Isle get over Dan
LINGERIE model SOPHIE GRADON shouldn’t need help finding a man.
But the former Miss GB winner has signed up to ITV2’s Love Island to get over her ex, DANNY CIPRIANI.
Sophie found out the rugby ace had been dating another woman, just weeks after he was accused of cheating on KELLY BROOK.
Speaking from her hotel in Majorca, Sophie said: “I was heartbroken.
“I really liked him and I actually haven’t dated a man since.”
Meanwhile, Sophie revealed she’s no stranger to high-profile flings after confessing to a summer romance with GARY LINEKER’s brother Wayne.
The 30-year-old said: “I dated Wayne for a while.
“I met him in Marbella and we just hit it off.
“He’s such good fun.
“I was 22 then but I like the silver foxes.”
She picked the right man in Wayne, then.
Kelly’s heroes show promise
MY girls are at it again – showing off their incredible beach bodies in aid of LORRAINE KELLY’s Bikini Promise campaign.
The idea behind Bikini Promise is to encourage women to embrace their figures.
And following on from the huge success of last year’s drive, my amazing TV colleagues – Lorraine, inset, nutritionist SALLY BEE, fitness expert MAXINE JONES plus show health expert DR HILARY JONES – will once again be helping viewers feel “healthy, fit and happy” in the run-up to the summer holidays.
This year’s inspiring plan, Bikini Promise + One, will see Lorraine’s team help teams of two slip into their beachwear with confidence.
Lorraine said: “For the finale of the Bikini Promise last year, I danced on the banks of the River Thames in my bikini with a fantastic group of women also in their bikinis.
“So who knows what will be in store for this year’s finale.”
Just don’t expect me to strip off and join you.
Theroux in Savile shutout
IT was always going to be a hard film for LOUIS THEROUX to make.
The award-winning documentary maker is currently shooting a follow-up to his Jimmy Savile interview – 16 years after he failed to expose the serial sexual predator.
But I can reveal that Louis is struggling to finish the programme after senior BBC execs have refused to take part.
Former director-general MARK THOMPSON has led the bigwigs in a boycott, refusing to tell Louis on camera how they were also duped by Savile.
A source revealed: “Louis has spoken to lots of people who knew Savile – including victims.
“There is a certain reluctance from certain executives, some who have moved on to other jobs, to go over this matter again on camera.
“Some are claiming they are too busy or have moved abroad or gave full evidence to Dame Janet Smith’s review into Savile’s sex crimes at the Beeb and do not want to discuss the subject any more.”
The programme will be Louis’ third and final episode of his latest BBC2 series after covering alcoholism and brain injuries.
He reported Savile to the BBC in 2001 after the presenter confessed to him he had slept with a 15-year-old girl.
But an executive producer decided not to tell the police.
This will be an uncomfortable but fascinating watch.
Soapbox
CORONATION STREET criminal Callum Logan’s decomposed body has been buried beneath the cobbles for months now.
And while the Platts may have thought they had literally got away with murder, an unexpected sequence of events leads to Callum’s body being uncovered at No8 tonight.
Meanwhile, Down Under in NEIGHBOURS, Mark Brennan may have only just started dating Steph Scully but he’s already thinking about kids.
Steph is thrown by the copper’s comments, never imagining more children would be on the agenda.
It seems as though Mark’s broodiness could damage the new couple’s relationship.
Must watch
WHAT? The Secret Life of the Human Pups, Channel 4, 10pm.
WHY? Weird docu sheds light on people living extraordinary double lives in which they dress up in dog suits and engage in “human puppy play”.
