Cole axe: 'That's showbusiness', says Cowell
A friendly moment between the pair last year
Simon Cowell has hinted at his view on Cheryl Cole’s departure from the X Factor, saying: “That’s showbusiness.”
The comment appeared to refer to Cole after Cowell had joked that he could replace 'Britain’s Got Talent' presenter Dec with one of the show’s acts.
“Ant and Les has got a nice ring to it. As we know, that’s showbusiness,” he said.
Dec replied: “He’s got it right in for the Geordies this week,” leading Cowell to admit: “I’m in so much trouble tomorrow.”
It was confirmed earlier this week that Cole would not be a judge on this year’s UK X Factor after being sacked from the US version too.
Impressionist Les Gibson received the most public votes in last night’s show to secure a place in the final.
His performance, which included mimicking Alan Sugar, Gordon Ramsay and Ross Kemp – as well as Ant and Dec – earned strong praise from the judges.
Comic Michael McIntyre said: “I could listen to it all night. You are a real threat in this competition.”
Fellow judge Amanda Holden added: “You’ve really worked on this. Your material was funny, your impressions were even better.”
The second spot in Saturday’s final was a battle between bell ringers and a ballet dancer.
Husband-and-wife team Alan and Gay Cooper received one judge’s vote, from Holden, who said: “One of the main prizes is to perform in front of the royal family and this year the Queen, and I am going to choose what I think she would like to see at the Royal Variety.”
Cowell was clearly stunned by Holden’s decision, and with the score standing at two-to-one in favour of dancer James Hobley, he said he was “going to take everything back to planet Earth” and gave the decisive vote to the 11-year-old.
McIntyre said the autistic dancer was “sensational” and admitted “I’m a little bit obsessed by him.”
Among the unlucky acts were Circus of Horrors, who featured a man swallowing a sword attached to a firework.
Holden criticised them because “there were too many people at the front who weren’t doing anything impressive”.
But Cowell appeared to enjoy every minute.
“If I was the Royal Family I’d actually love to watch this,” he said.
Holden said she thought street dance crew Abyss showed “flashes of brilliance” but believed their second audition was better than yesterday’s performance.
Cowell ended the programme by saying there would be “a special announcement” tonight.
“You know how we like twists on the show,” he said.
