Simon Cowell is allegedly stirring up trouble between the X Factor judges, according to a tabloid report today.
The mogul is said by The Sun to have arrived late for the second day of audition filming in Manchester, and also keeping Cheryl Cole, Mel B and Louis Walsh waiting after they'd worked six hours through the night on an advert shoot.
A member of the production team said: "So far the atmosphere has not been great to say the least.
The 2014 panel (Twitter)
"The only person who gets on with everyone is Simon but it's as if he is deliberately letting the fires build by being late and making everyone grumpy."
They added: "He's the first to admit the show has started to run its course and it's harder to get viewers to engage with the acts.
"However, what does work are fights between the judges. He knows what he is doing. He loves being the master puppeteer."
The X Factor is back on screen in August, marking Cowell and Cole's first appearance on it in a full-time capacity since 2010. Mel B was previously a guest judge in 2012, and Louis has been on the show every year since its launch in 2004.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
