Simon Cowell says his late mum would have given him a whack for swearing on The X Factor

X Factor judge Simon Cowell turned the air blue when he was given the Overs category – but he thinks his late mum would have been horrified to see him swearing on TV.
Earlier this month, the talent show judge was awarded the Overs category after a public vote. He was not happy, cursing at hosts Caroline Flack and Olly Murs: “Oh, f***! Are you winding me up?”
Simon’s beloved mother Julie Brett, 89, died in July, just before auditions were due to begin.
“And that did make me kind of chuckle. And that’s when you realise, they’re still there with you.”
The 56-year-old told Susanna Reid on ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Funny enough, when I was watching the show, I actually was thinking: If my mum watched this now, me swearing on TV, I actually think she would have given me a whack. Very disappointed.Simon later apologised for his foul language on the show, which was bleeped out
The music mogul was devastated when his mum passed away – and revealed she was a massive X Factor fan. “She was really interested in coming down to the shows, and the artists,” he said. “We all go through it, but it was tough when I first had to go to work.”
Looking back on his bereavement, he said: “You’re not the only person obviously who goes through this and we all deal with it in our own way. I deal with it because I always believe she is still here, same with my dad, you know, talk to them.
“I always feel their presence and I genuinely do believe in that, once you get over that initial shock, then you deal with it in a different way.”
Fans were moved to see Simon open up to Susanna on such a raw topic:
The judge also revealed that One Direction star Louis Tomlinson, who joins him as a mentor for Judges’ Houses as he narrows down the Overs category, has wanted to be a guest on The X Factor a long time.
Simon said: “He does these shows all over the world. I’m good friends with Louis – and then he’s always said to me, you know what I want to do? I said: what is it? – I wanna be your guest judge on X Factor.”
But poor Louis, 23, has been hit by nerves about joining Simon in Rome for the programme.
“He sent me a text this morning, he said, I’m excited but I’m really nervous,” Simon revealed. “And we flew over together, and he really, really is nervous.
“But he loves doing this.”