Sharon Osbourne claims Simon Cowell once called her ‘too old’ (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
The X Factor judges would rarely be called besties but Sharon Osbourne has firmly denied she and Simon Cowell were friends at all.
Sharon has been back in London, receiving an award in honour of sick husband Ozzy and reminiscing about her days on the singing competition.
The 71-year-old was a firm fixture on the X Factor between 2004 and 2007 then moved over to America’s Got Talent until 2012, alongside Simon, 64.
The music mogul is the co-founder of Syco, the company behind those reality shows as well as the rest of the Got Talent franchise.
Despite working together for almost a decade, Sharon, who has spoken out about her experience of weight loss on Ozempic, revealed she ‘never was friends’ with her fellow judge.
‘I never was friends with him. I just worked for him, but he was never a friend,’ she told The Sun on Sunday’s Bizarre column.
Simon Cowell worked alongside Sharon for almost a decade (Picture: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)
Sharon insists that the pair were never actually friends (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Simon is said to have unfollowed the Osbournes star on Instagram, and in 2019 Sharon alleged she was dismissed her as ‘too old’ to judge on the X Factor.
Sharon claimed: ‘Simon goes, “She’s old. We need somebody young.” So if you want young, fire yourself and get rid of those man t***.
‘Call me tomorrow and we’ll discuss it. It is a boys club, okay, it is, and the boys take care of each other, and the women are not paid as much as the men.’
She continued: ‘Simon owns the show and the time I was there, Simon was never on the show. So when the show was doing 16 million, 14 million, Simon was never there.’
Simon was a judge on the X Factor from 2007 to 2010, returning four years later after a short stint in the US to the popular singing show.
Sharon was a firm favourite judge on The X Factor (Picture: Rotello/Mcp/Photofab/REX/Shutterstock)
She remained on the show until 2007 before heading to America’s Got Talent(Picture: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock)
He also judges on both the British and American versions of Got Talent and has done since the mid 00s.
Sharon also addressed the MeToo movement while speaking to the Sunday Mirror, accusing men she had employed of ‘abusing’ young women in the industry.
‘The amount of men that have worked for me that have been looking for those young girls,’ she shared. ‘[One employee] has worked for me [a long time] and the times I have fired men taking advantage of her, abusing her, and trying to ply her with drink.’
The legend said nothing like that happened to her as she was ‘too intimidating’ and didn’t want to be seen as being ‘vulnerable’.
Sharon added: ‘When I started there were no other women managers in this genre. It’s tough. That’s why people go, “She’s so this, so that”. But you have to be, otherwise, people eat you up. It’s survival.’
Sharon’s husband, Ozzy Osbourne, hasn’t been well (Picture: Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
The rock legend has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (Picture: Vianney Le Caer/REX/Shutterstock)
More recently, the star has been busy looking after her husband at their home stateside since the 74-year-old rocker was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Since a fall in 2019, Ozzy has undergone four operations on his back and has been pictured using a wheelchair and walkers, declaring in September he would only endure one more surgery, and that was it – regardless of the outcome.
At the Rolling Stones UK Awards, she collected the icon award on behalf of the Black Sabbath legend.
‘I’m just so f**ked up that he’s not here tonight, it means so much and he’s worked so hard his entire life to give back,’ she told the crowd while breaking down in tears.
Metro has reached out to Simon’s team for comment.
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