Simon Cowell has revealed that Girls Aloud star Cheryl turned down an offer of a judging role on Britain's Got Talent.
This comes as the popular ITV talent show returns for a new series this weekend, featuring Simon Cowell, alongside judges Amanda Holden, KSI, singer Alesha Dixon and Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli.
The music mogul also heaped the praise on fellow judge Amanda Holden, with whom he has worked with since the maiden series of BGT.
Speaking about the secret to her success, Simon Cowell has stated that Holden "loves the acts".
"That’s her, she honestly loves it. You know, every time I talk to her it makes me laugh because I say, 'you are loving this, aren’t you?", Cowell said. "Because there are days where I’m knackered and there’s still an hour to go".
He continued: "And I’m like, wow, it’s been a long day, and she’s like, ‘yeah, but it’s brilliant, isn’t it?. She is our Britain’s Got Talent queen and she deserves that crown".
Simon Cowell returns as a judge on Britain's Got Talent this weekend.
Elsewhere, Simon Cowell said that the role had been originally offered to former X Factor judge Cheryl, but she turned it down.
"And you know what? She was an interesting booking because we’d offered the role to Cheryl Cole, as she was known in those days", Cowell said.
"A week before filming, she calls me and goes, ‘I just can’t do it’ and wouldn’t give me a reason. I think she was freaked out.
"We literally had two judges and a week to book someone. I just knew it had to be Amanda because I’d met her and I really liked her, she was very funny and I just thought she’d fit the show perfectly", he added. "Fast forward 18 years and she’s still a huge success and we have become great friends. I do consider her one of my best friends".
Cheryl has worked as a judge on the X Factor from 2008 to 2010, before joining the US version of the show in 2011. She also featured on the judging panel between 2014 and 2015.
In this interview, Simon Cowell also spoke about a near death experience that he went through while filming the latest series of BGT.
"It’s that feeling when you kind of think somebody doesn’t want you on the show anymore. It was that", he explained. "It was the closest, genuinely, where I’m thinking, ‘they actually want to kill me.’
"And I swear to God, that’s how I felt because this guy got really nervous and he’d slipped and was shaking as he was smashing these watermelons".
"The health and safety guys, normally quite annoying, actually stopped him. Thank god, they saved my life".
Britain's Got Talent, which is hosted by Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, aka Ant and Dec, began in 2007, and has produced winners including Paul Potts, Susan Boyle, and Diversity.
