It’s pretty safe to say that this year’s X Factor judges have gone wild, with Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger, Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell often getting accused of being drunk during the live shows by amused viewers.

However, Xtra Factor fans were stunned, and left wondering if a line had been crossed, when Simon made a crude gay joke about Xtra Factor host, Rylan Clark-Neal, last night.

In fact, moments after he made the remark Simon admitted that he had gone too far.

It all started when Rylan and his co-host, Matt Edmondston, were getting the judges to pick a front door in order to choose which caller they would be going to for the judges’ Q&A.

As the segment got under way, Rylan remarked: “I love a front door”, only for Simon to retort: “I thought you liked back doors?”

Cue immense shock from Rylan, Simon’s fellow judges, and the live studio audience.

Rylan was praised on social media for handling the altercation like an absolute pro, quipping: “Oh, Simon! Would you like me to show you how much?”

Meanwhile, Simon went a rather magnificent shade of red as he apologised, saying: “I apologise. I shouldn’t have said that – sorry, sorry, sorry.”

Which Rylan graciously accepted, responding: “I’ll get over it” as Simon joked: “This is why we should never do live TV.”

Although the incident was incredibly brief on the show, it lived on via Twitter, with fans responding to Simon’s shock remark on their social networking pages:

Rylan also took to his Twitter page to insist that there was no bad blood between himself and the big boss, writing: “Thanks for watching. And @SimonCowell made a joke, no biggie, and I took it….. (another joke) all love and laughs on #XtraFactorLive x”.

We have a feeling that Simon might be watching his words in future…

By: Stephanie Soteriou