Divine intervention

Simon Cowell moved heaven and earth to make Robbie Williams, his wife Ayda Field and One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson the X Factor’s new judges. Here they tell Jenny Johnston why they’re praying they get it right

Theirs has been a very drawn-out flirtation, but finally Simon Cowell and Robbie Williams are together. On The X Factor panel, that is. Yes, in what is being seen as his biggest gamble yet, Simon has paid a rumoured £10 million to bring on board one of the biggest pop names of his generation as a judge for the show – and, in an impressive twofor-one deal, he’s hired Robbie’s wife Ayda too. The couple join Simon himself and Louis Tomlinson, one quarter of global pop phenomenon One Direction – who were themselves formed on X Factor in 2010 – for the new series, which starts next Saturday.

It was no surprise to hear Cowell had been wooing Williams. Indeed, Robbie confirms today that Simon had asked him to be a part of the show even before the first series, in 2004, and had long since given up on getting him on board. Actually, he’d given up on the idea of them ever being more t ha n pa s si ng acquaintances.

‘ We met at a function a few years back and I said, “Give me your number”, and S i mo n reminded me I’d taken his number twice previously and never called,’ Robbie recalls. ‘He said, “Robbie, be honest. Are you going to phone me?”, and I said, “I don’t think I am”, and he said, “Well, don’t have my number then.” There was no malice in it, because I’m a happy agoraphobic who doesn’t make friends easily and doesn’t want to go out to make them. So it was nothing to do with me not wanting to hang out with Simon, and it was great he understood that it wasn’t personal.’

Now, the situation has changed, and Ayda’s been included as well, even though her knowledge of the music industry largely comes from her 12 years with BRIT Award-winner Robbie. The American actress has recently appeared in Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat and ITV drama Paranoid. But can she even sing? ‘I sing in the shower,’ she says. Her husband doesn’t exactly come to her rescue, saying, ‘She’s got a better voice than Simon’ – hardly a ringing endorsement.

Even as a two-for-one, it was still an expensive deal, but Robbie thinks Simon could have paid more. ‘Do I think I’m worth more?’ he says. ‘Yes. But I think they got a good deal, and we got a good deal too.’ Robbie could have got an even better deal a few years ago, he reveals. ‘I was offered Simon’s role on the judging panel of American Idol, the US version of X Factor’s predecessor, Pop Idol, when he left, and it was for twice the money I’m on now.’

The answer to whether Simon has struck a good deal will surely come

The new judging panel: Simon, Robbie, Louis and Ayda

when the viewing figures are known. But for now he has the air of a satisfied investor. ‘A very good deal,’ he says. ‘I was a little nervous before filming started.

You never know what the chemistry will be like, how people will react in the chair, but these two took to it like ducks to water. We’ve got our money’s worth. Performers look up to Robbie. I think the contestants have upped their game this year, performing for him.’ And Ayda? ‘She’s smart. She’s funny. She’s got a great attitude. I think audiences will love her.’

But it has to be said the new line-up make an unlikely team. It’s traditional for a TV judging panel to gush about being a family. If this lot are a family then they’re a dysfunctional one. ‘ Someone on Twitter said we were mum, dad, the grumpy teenager and the drunken grandad,’ says Robbie. Simon, of course, i s n’t hugely thril led to be painted as the drunken grandpa. The teenager? Step forward Louis Tomlinson, still only 26 but perhaps more mature than the rest of them put together. Is he more grown-up than you were at that age, I ask Robbie. ‘He’s more grown up than I am now,’ he says.

Louis is stunned. ‘That’s the first time anyone’s called me a grown- up,’ he laughs, but admits that he’s felt the first rumblings of Getting Old. ‘I’m at that sticky age where a lot of my mates are getting married, having kids, and I’m thinking, “God, I’m old.”’

Of course for most of us, it seems like yesterday that Louis was standing on the X Factor stage as a contestant. Obviously what happened next, with One Direction becoming one of the most successful music acts of recent times, validated Simon’s claims that the show makes stars.

Louis says that sitting on the panel has brought home to him what a close call it was. ‘The thing I remind myself of, when I see people audition, is how none of One Direction had a brilliant first audition [all the members entered as solo competitors, only being formed into a group during the series]. None of us set the place on fire – that came later. I think you have to remember that when you’re about to dismiss someone.’

When we catch up with them, the four have just finished filming the early rounds. Louis is rushing off to the recording studio – his day job, it seems, is still being a successful solo artist on Simon’s Syco label, with One Direction on a hiatus since 2016.

Robbie and Ayda seem a bit sleepdeprived, but this might be self-inflicted, because the long days of audition filming coincided with Love Island. ‘No matter what time we got home we had to have our Love Island fix,’ she reveals. ‘It’s meant a lot of late nights. This morning we were hoping for a liein but the kids came in at 6am for cud- dles and we had to pretend to be pleased at being up so early.’ Their daughter Teddy is five and son Charlton, three.

It was Ayda, it seems, who finally achieved what Simon had failed to do – getting Robbie to sign up. It happened when she met Simon’s partner Lauren, the mother of his four-year- old son Eric, at a toddler gymnastics class in LA and a friendship developed. So, it was the women who got the two men to join forces? ‘Yes, it was a case of, “Let’s not leave it to the guys; let’s have the women sort it out”,’ says Ayda. Would Robbie have said yes without her? ‘I don’t think so,’ he admits.

It is slightly more complicated than that. ‘I’d always been busy – album, promo tour, album,’ he continues. ‘But I’m 44 now and I’m looking for some new ventures. I’m thinking, “Oh, who knew, I’m a TV personality now.” I’m seeing the next 20 years open up in front of me.’ It sounds as if he’s seeing The X Factor as a stepping stone to – who knows? – his own show. ‘Maybe. Let’s see. I have several ideas.’

He’s candid about not being entirely sure how he should play this new role, revealing that he ‘tried to do the mean judge thing’ at the start – and got himself in a right pickle. ‘I said something

‘Robbie’s made the contestants up their game’ SIMON COWELL

I thought would be funny, but instead everyone went “Oooohhh”,’ he says, sucking in his breath.’ Ayda agrees it was appalling. ‘I said to him, “Robert Peter Williams. Where did that come from? You’re not that person!”’ Robbie cringes a little, adding, ‘ Then the make-up artist said, “Why did you say that?” And I got so panicked I went upstairs and threw up.’

The thing about Robbie Williams is you’re never quite sure which Robbie you’re going to get – the out-and-out star or the Robbie-with-demons. His history of addiction, of complications, is well known. Today, he sounds a bit afraid of his own unpredictability. ‘It’s a big risk, putting yourself on mainstream television every week. For somebody who can put his foot in it – unintentionally – it’s a very scary prospect. But fun at the same time. It’s like walking the tightrope, though there’s the fear I’m going to do something that will cause an international incident.’

There’s also the fear that if he tries too hard to be nice to everyone the show will be dull. ‘It’s really important people either really love it and us – or they obsessively hate us. And I want the obsessive haters to watch too.’

Ayda, who met her man when he was still sorting himself out, seems to have been instrumental in building up his confidence. She listens to him talking of his tendency to mess things up and disagrees. ‘I’ve always thought Rob would be amazing at this gig. He undersells himself. He doesn’t totally understand how good he is. I’ve always had complete confidence in him.’ What are they like at home? A bit nuts, they both agree. So which of our most famous husband-and-wife double acts do they most resemble? Richard and Judy? George and Mildred? ‘We’re the Krankies,’ says Robbie. ‘We’re eternal p***-takers with each other,’ he adds. ‘We’re constantly trying to find the line to go over. Sometimes I find it quicker than Ayda.’ ‘Quite often,’ she agrees. ‘But our language of love is humour. I think that at the baseline of our relationship is not only the love of each other, but the love of laughing with each other. We’re completely normally eccentric, if that makes sense. We’re a happy contradiction. He’s my best mate.’

For years, there have been mutterings about how long The X Factor can continue. Have Robbie and Ayda been brought in to save the show? Simon says not. ‘But we’re always striving to make it better. This is a big shake- up, maybe the biggest yet, but the show is constantly evolving.’ Ayda laughs at the saviour suggestion. ‘I don’t think we’re brave or noble enough,’ she says. Robbie’s more philosophical. ‘I think it’s given us an opportunity to reinvent ourselves too, so the benefits are mutual.’

But we shouldn’t underestimate the role of Louis in this line-up. After all, a sizeable portion of the X Factor audience won’t know who Robbie is, and everyone under 30 will be familiar with Louis. How has he found the shift to being a judge on the show that launched his career? ‘Some parts have been more challenging than I expected,’ he admits. ‘Saying no to people is horrible. I find it difficult to say no to people in any situation but here it’s really horrible.’ Of all the One Direction boys, Louis was the one least likely to thrust himself into the limelight in a solo capacity when the band went their separate ways. As he has said, he wasn’t the best singer, or the best songwriter, so when the band split it’s understandable that he felt a bit lost, not sure he wanted to strike out on his own. Since then, though, he’s forged his own career and is now winning awards as a solo artist. So why did he end up going down that route? ‘There was an element of feeling there was something to prove. And a responsibility to the fans.’

He also went through the devastating loss of his mother, Johannah, who was only 43 when she died in December 2016 after suffering from leukaemia. Just days afterwards, Louis went back on The X Factor to perform as a guest, giving perhaps the bravest performance of his life. ‘Your mum was so proud of you,’ said Simon afterwards. ‘She’s looking down on you tonight.’ Today, Robbie echoes that sentiment, saying the bereavement made Louis grow up. ‘ He had to grow up after losing his mum. He’s amazing.’ The fact he’s also become a father – his son Freddie was born to exgirlfriend Briana Jungwirth in January 2016 – has helped him mature.

Louis says he had to ‘pinch himself’ when he found out he’d be joining Robbie on the panel. They first met when Robbie performed with One Direction when they came third on the show in 2010. ‘He’s just a legend,’ he says. ‘But he’s also just a northern bloke like me. We do have quite a bit in common, being from similar backgrounds.’

Yet in terms of mentors, Simon is still the king. Robbie, not someone you’d expect to fawn, says, ‘Simon is my mentor in all this. Just as I’ll be mentoring the contestants, he’ll be mentoring me.’ Louis acknowledges how much of a role model Simon has been, revealing Simon’s had to ‘have a few words’ with him over the years, when he was failing to cope with the pressures of fame. ‘I was just being the cocky lad out of Doncaster,’ he says. ‘I got a bit carried away. Simon said I needed to appreciate the opportunity I was being given here. He was right.’

There’s a possibility that this year’s series will be something of a One Direction reunion. Louis has admitted that a couple of his bandmates texted when they heard of his appointment. ‘They might fight for that guest judge seat at the judges’ houses stage of the competition,’ he says.

Simon may have to set another few places at the table then. He certainly won’t have long now to wait to see if his new signings will indeed prove to be worth it. Will they impress The X Factor’s audience? That’s the multimillion-pound question.

The X Factor returns on Saturday 1 September on ITV.

‘It’s important that people love us – or obsessively hate us’ ROBBIE WILLIAMS ‘Having to say no to people is horrible’ LOUIS TOMLINSON