Pop Idol 'Mr Nasty' blasts Big Brother 'bad actors'
Reality TV’s Mr Nasty Simon Cowell has launched a stinging attack on Big Brother, labelling the stars of the hit Channel 4 series “bad actors”.
Speaking at the launch of the second series of Pop Idol yesterday, Cowell argued that the latest series of Big Brother – which was won on Friday by Scot Cameron Stout – was full of people seeking instant fame.
He said: “Big Brother is not reality any more. You don’t get 10 normal people to do it. You get 10 crap actors in the house.”
Cowell will be joined on screen by fellow judges Pete Waterman, Neil Fox and Nicki Chapman – as well as jovial Geordie presenters Ant and Dec – when Pop Idol 2 gets under way on Saturday August 9.
Viewers will watch as over 5,000 budding pop stars attend regional auditions all over the country before finding out if they have been selected in the final 50 to compete in the finals in London.
The first series of Pop Idol was a huge ratings winner for ITV, with more than 13 million people tuning in to the grand final, when Will Young beat the favourite, Gareth Gates. Both have since gone on to score number one hits.
Cowell believes this year’s show will be equally compulsive viewing: “It’s much more unpredictable than last time. People who don’t look like a pop idol are going to play a bigger part this year.
“Last year I thought Gareth would win it and he came pretty close. This year it’s much more open. There are eight or 10 who could win it.”
Sitting alongside Cowell at the Pop Idol press conference at Thames TV studios in Stephen Street, central London, fellow judge Waterman said he was delighted to back.
Commenting on his disagreements with judges Geri Halliwell and Louis Walsh on last year’s ITV show Pop Stars: The Rivals, he said: “At least I get on with this lot. There’s some common sense on this panel.”
Despite his contented demeanour, Waterman promised that sparks would continue to fly between himself and Cowell.
“When you put me and Simon in a room together, the term falling out is not strong enough,” he said.
Cowell did not feature on Popstars The Rivals, but he couldn’t resist a pop at the winning girl band, Girls Aloud.
He said: “I think the Geordie girl [Cheryl Tweedy] is terrible. I saw her last audition. She didn’t sing a note in tune.”
Asked whether this year’s series could produce a female winner, Chapman said: “The standard of the girls is much better this year. They will put up a stronger fight but it all depends on how they perform when they get to the final 10.”
BBC Radio 1 DJ Fox added: “The girls are much better. They look hot and they are more talented than last time.”
Cowell said viewers of this year’s series were guaranteed some laughs.
“What makes it funnier this time is when someone is horrendous but is not aware that they are horrendous. We had a lot of people like that who had absolutely no idea how bad they were.”
