Louis Walsh was not happy when he was replaced by BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw on The X Factor last year.
And although Louis is now back and Nick has left the show, that hasn’t stopped Louis from using any opportunity he can to hit out at Nick, claiming he wasn’t experienced enough for the X Factor and that Simon Cowell was wrong to hire him.
However, Nick insists Louis is actually incredibly nice to him whenever they meet in person and says the Irish music manager is simply trying to court controversy.
He’s back! After being fired last year, Louis Walsh has returned to the revamped X Factor panel |ITV
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, he said: “I don’t really pay too much attention to what he says. Whenever I see him he’s always super-lovely to me and we always have a laugh. He just says things to court controversy and publicity.”
And Nick disagrees with Louis’ assertion that the show suffered from a lack of experience on its judging panel last year.
He said: “It’s about whether you like that person’s singing. The public make the decisions at home and they’re not experienced managers like Louis Walsh. That’s why it’s good, because everyone has an opinion on it.”
When asked previously by chat show host Miriam O’Callaghan, “Were you annoyed when you weren’t on the last season?” Louis replied: “You mean when I was sacked? I was sacked. They just told me not to come back.
Initially I was annoyed and then I was really happy that it didn’t work without me. I’ll be honest with you.
“I was offered £1 million for I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, but I couldn’t do it. Then Simon rang me up, he’s the campest man you’ve ever seen, and said ‘don’t do the show darling, I have another show for you’. And that’s when I knew I was back on X Factor.
“I trust him 100 per cent, even though he sacked me twice. It’s all about ratings for him, it’s not personal. ITV wanted to make the show younger but it didn’t work.”
