Louis Walsh has hit out at Cat Deeley after she branded the X Factor ‘boring’, claiming she is just jealous at never being asked to host the show.
Presenter Cat took a swipe at the ITV talent show earlier this week, suggesting viewers had got bored with the format and it should be taken off the air.
She is back in the UK to present a brand new singing talent show on Sky1, Sing: Ultimate A Cappella.
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And the mum-of-one thinks something new and different is just what X Factor fans are craving.
“I think every big show like that is cyclical, like Britain’s Got Talent or America’s Got Talent,” she said in an interview.
“It was Opportunity Knocks about 25 years ago – they are hugely successful and then people get bored, and then they put them away for a bit, then they miss them, then they bring them back.”
Viewing figures for Simon Cowell’s show have been steadily in decline, with Strictly Come Dancing pulling in an audience almost twice the size.
But X Factor judge Louis Walsh clearly wasn’t happy with Cat’s comments, and may have sparked a feud by branding the former SM:TV host “jealous” and claiming she would love to host the ITV series herself.
“I think the truth is that Cat would love to be hosting the show but we have already got Dermot [O’Leary] and he is the best in the business,” Louis told The Mirror.
“She can stay on Sky 1 where nobody is watching.
“It is a bit of the green-eyed monster from Cat. Sorry Cat, we don’t need you.”
Cat, 40, has spent the past few years working in the United States, presenting So You Think You Can Dance.
Married to comedian Patrick Kielty and mum to one-year-old Milo, she has had great success across the pond.
But now she’s back in Britain to host the new show which aims to find the best Pitch Perfect style vocal group.
Cat will be hoping to find great fresh new talent who could compete with an X Factor winner for the Christmas number one slot.
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She also criticised the decision to bring back another of Simon Cowell’s big shows, American Idol, explaining that she didn’t think it had been off air long enough.
“I think they are bringing it back a little too soon, I don’t think they have given time for people to miss it,” she said.
“It is going to cost so much to produce that the ratings they’ll require are going to be so huge – and no one is getting those ratings anymore.”