X-aggerated response

Sharon Osbourne has ridden to the defence of dumped co-stars Louis Walsh and the useless Kate Thornton, accusing Simon Cowell of cowardice when it came to their sacking:

"After knowing Louis for over 20 years, Simon should have had the guts to tell him to his face that he was going to get fired.

"I was completely shocked. It was a harsh and unfair thing to do. The very least he could have done is to have told Louis and Kate rather than pretend it was all down to the producers."

You might note that Sharon is not so outraged as to resign in sympathy or anything like that.

"Simon was with Louis at least three days before this happened and he didn't say a word.

"And Kate has been publicly humiliated. Simon should have been up front and told her he didn't think things were working. At least she could then have gone with dignity and her head held high."

Well... having seen her presenting skills, expecting Kate to leave with "dignity" might be stretching it a bit.

Meanwhile, Walsh is preparing to discover that revenge is a dish best eaten while making childish "nerr-nerr" noises, as he prepares to take a job on Any Dream Will Do. ADWD is the follow-up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, which will seek to find a Joseph for a forthcoming Technicolor Dreamcoat run in the West End; it's going to go head-to-head with Cowell's rip-off version based on Grease.