Cowell: 'Sharon hurt my feelings'
Simon Cowell was deeply hurt by his frequent clashes with Sharon Osbourne on the first series of X Factor, and insists her verbal attacks were merely a bid to boost her own fame.
Cowell, famed for his no-holds-barred nastiness, believes the rock matriarch behaved very badly towards him, despite her warm-hearted reputation.
But his publicist Max Clifford refused to stop Osbourne's behaviour, insisting their battles made for compulsive viewing.
Cowell says: "Max always said it was very good for the show. But there were times I needed help in dealing with her, particularly when she launched a prolonged attack on me that lasted about four weeks.
"After the third week, I told Max we had to put a stop to it and do something publicly in my defence. But he said: 'Ignore it, drop it.' He was right.
"I asked myself: 'Are her accusations life threatening?' They weren't. 'Was the whole thing designed to p**s me off?' One hundred per cent.
"I think she was using me to get herself publicity. It was a shame because I thought we had a good relationship."
