Cowell's panic call to newspaper columnist
SIMON COWELL made a desperate phone call to a newspaper columnist after the writer joked THE X FACTOR bosses were planning to sack him from the U.S. version of the show.
Kelvin MacKenzie, a former editor of The Sun, wrote a small item in his newspaper column praising Take That star Gary Barlow after he took over Cowell's role as a judge on the programme.
He also questioned Cowell's future on the U.S. version of the show - and the music mogul was so concerned by the throwaway comment, he called MacKenzie and demanded to know if the journalist had inside information on plans for the American X Factor.
MacKenzie tells This Morning, "He called me because I wrote a piece that indicated that Gary Barlow was fantastic - which I seriously believe - and that Simon Cowell might get the bullet (fired) in L.A. to get a younger version in. It was just an observation.
"He called up to ask me whether I knew something that he didn't know! I pointed out I'm a columnist, I don't know anything. I'm just speculating. I said, 'You're an actor-manager, there will come a moment for you, Simon, when you have to decide to sack yourself.'"