Britain’s Got Talent: Simon Cowell Says Amanda Holden Won’t Leave The Show

Simon Cowell has been revealing some behind-the-scenes secrets from Britain’s Got Talent, explaining that Amanda Holden was actually Cheryl’s replacement on the judging panel, and that now, she’s here to stay.

Copyright [Tom Dymond/ITV]

Chatting to the Radio Times, Simon revealed that Cheryl originally signed up to sit on the BGT panel when the show started in 2007, but after she pulled out at the last-minute, Amanda was drafted in as her replacement - and the rest, as they say, is history.

He explained: “Cheryl [Fernandez-Versini] was supposed to be in Amanda’s place, but with days to go she backed out. We called ITV and they suggested two people — one was Amanda and the other was a girl on Corrie. Now I couldn’t imagine doing the show without Amanda.

“She enjoys every minute of it, never gets fed up, is easy to work with and is the voice of the public.”

Copyright [Graham Stone/REX/Shutterstock]

With the show now on its tenth series, Simon is sure that Amanda will be staying on right until the very end, revealing: “Even if we were to say, ‘You’re not on the show’, she would still turn up. So I think we are stuck with her until the show ends. Right until that point she will still be sitting in that chair.

“Amanda is exactly the same off camera as she is on, there is no difference other than she doesn’t cry in real life! I’ve never seen Amanda cry off camera! She saves it for the camera.”

Simon is so happy with his BGT panel, in fact, that he once considered moving them all over to The X Factor, admitting: “I think the four of us on the panel is about as good as we’re ever going to get.”

He did, though, add: “Their egos, if I ever suggested it, would be unbearable!”

Simon continued: “There have been times with X Factor – now that I’ve had the chance to rethink what happened last year and the years before – where we had that chemistry and lost it by trying to change too much.”

With Cheryl now announcing that she’s quit The X Factor, could one of the BGT judges take her place? Watch this space.

Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times magazine, available now