He’s been sorely missed from the past two series of The X Factor – with only Mel B’s brief guest stint as a judge to make up for the distinct lack of scary his absence has created. So we’re really excited to tell you that he might be coming back to the live shows!
Simon, who left the show so he could work on its US counterpart, The X Factor USA (great name), is set to return for at least one episode, according to executive producer Richard Holloway.
According to The Guardian, he said at the Edinburgh TV Festival that Simon will be back “in some guise somewhere”
He wasn’t willing to give many/any details away, even when asked what form Simon would be appearing in: “Ooh, that would be giving it away, wouldn’t it…that’s all I’m prepared to say…it’s not a hologram.”
We contacted Simon’s people, but they had no comment.
What form would you like to see Simon return in? Dropping in on a wire from the ceiling? Slithering in in snake form, only to transmogrify into actual Simon Cowell? Dressed in drag as 'Simone Cowell'?
Regardless, this had better not be a Kelly Rowland-style video-call-from-LA appearance.
Richard also had some stuff to say about The X Factor’s rival show, The Voice. He said that the BBC series’ inclusion of the spinny-roundy-chairs was merely a “gimmick”.
He said: “The gimmick of the chairs was a nice neat twist to give [The Voice creator] John De Mol has his due…But once you got over that and the auditions, it doesn’t really add much more to that does it?
“Again, I’m not being bitchy, but it’s sort of like a pale version of what we do.”
Meeeowww! Maybe Richard would be a good stand-in in case Simon can’t make it!?