Simon Cowell has a lot of explaining to do and it’s a wonder it took him this long.
The X Factor creator and judge sat down with Extra to discuss the recent firings of the show’s judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, along with host Steve Jones.
Cowell said he knew about the show’s cuts at the beginning of the year with Fox making it very clear on what they wanted and that “it had to happen straight away.”
And while he admits he would have liked to keep Abdul, things just didn’t work out in his favor.
”She was very gracious and I said that to her,” Cowell explained after breaking the news to Abdul. “She understands it’s business; it’s never personal.”
As for the reports on recruiting Beyonce for $100 million, the former American Idol judge says they are simply not true.
“The budget for the show is $100 million. That would never ever happen,” he said. ”It’s absolute nonsense. No one is going to pay $100 million for someone. I genuinely haven’t had a conversation with her about it. Not at all.”
And Mariah Carey?
“No, she’s not on the list because I don’t think Mariah would make that commitment. I really, really don’t,” he said.
“She’s just had kids. You have to work five days a week on this show and you’ve got to do all the traveling as well. Just to put it out there, she will not be on the list. I adore her, I would love her, but you can’t expect someone who’s just had two kids, who’s got a record career, to make the kind of commitment we would need on this show.”
Say ‘good night’ to the rumors– Simon just put them to bed.
