Cowell’s ‘world of debauchery’ ...now Sharon dishes the dirt
AFTER the publication of a book about his private life, he may have expected a few questions from his nearest and dearest.
But Simon Cowell got more than he bargained for yesterday as his ex- colleagues and friends waded into a row over the revelations.
Former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne, 59, accused the music mogul, 52, of dragging her into a ‘world of debauchery’ over his fling with co-star Dannii Minogue.
The outspoken Mrs Osbourne even claimed Cowell was seeing three other women while having his secret liaison with Miss Minogue.
She alleged that he was dating glamour model Jasmine Lennard and his make-up artist Julia Carta at the same time as Mezhgan Hussainy – who went on to become his fiancée – and Miss Minogue.
Her comments came as Cowell’s publicist of ten years, Max Clifford, admitted he was disappointed by
‘A lot of this is from Simon’s own words’
Cowell’s decision to ignore his advice and give interviews for Tom Bower’s book.
Clifford said Cowell had scored an ‘own goal’ by speaking to Bower – and added that six girls have come forward claiming to have had flings with the star since details of his relationship with Miss Minogue, 40, were published.
The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell is being called an ‘ unauthorised’ book, but the X Factor creator spent 200 hours being interviewed by Bower, and is also believed to have sanctioned close friends and family to speak to the author.
Bower was invited to watch auditions for the U.S. X Factor. He was flown out on Cowell’s private jet and spent time with the multi-millionaire on his yacht.
Yesterday, Mrs Osbourne denied leaving the ITV talent show over Cowell’s relationship with Miss Minogue. She said: ‘Dannii wanted to be the mistress of Simon – and the mistress of X Factor.’ She denied leaving the show because of Cowell and Miss Minogue’s relationship, adding: ‘I left because she became unbearable. She started bossing everyone around, even the producers.’
She said she was annoyed to be ‘dragged into [Cowell’s] little world of debauchery’ nearly three years after leaving the X Factor. Mrs Osbourne is currently a judge on Cowell’s U.S. show, America’s Got Talent, but a source told the Mail: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Sharon gets the axe over this.
‘She can spend all the time she likes talking about Dannii Minogue, but everyone who worked on the show knows that Dannii didn’t put a foot wrong. It was Sharon who was the pain.’
Meanwhile, Clifford criticised Cowell’s decision to work with Bower, who has previously written books about Bernie Ecclestone and Mohamed Al Fayed.
He told ITV’S This Morning: ‘The big problem I’ve had with this is a lot of this is coming out from Simon’s own words and this is a man who for ten years I protected and always was desperately, desperately keen to have a private life and keep his private life very private.
Cowell wrote on Twitter yesterday: ‘This book is not written by me. It is unauthorised.’ ÷ Gary Barlow will return to The X Factor after signing a deal to be a judge on this year’s series, ITV has confirmed. His contract is thought to be worth as much as £2million.
Sandra Parsons — Page 15