X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger reveals Gary Barlow tried to poach her from Simon Cowell for his new BBC show Let It Shine
Nicole Scherzinger is one of the star judges on ITV's X Factor and had a simple answer for former colleague Gary Barlow's request
TAKE THAT star Gary Barlow tried to poach Nicole Scherzinger from The X Factor judging panel for his rival telly talent contest.
He wanted her for his BBC1 show Let It Shine but Nicole had already agreed to return to Simon Cowell’s ITV series.
Nicole revealed: “He did ask me. He said he was right about to call me then he saw Simon had signed me for X Factor and he was like, ‘Oh god’. So that was sad.”
But never say never — if any of her X Factor colleagues, Simon, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne, choose to leave, Nicole will follow them out the door.
Nicole, 38, told The Sun: “If I was ever to do another panel with X Factor it would only be with the one we have now. If someone quit, I would quit.
“Unless Gazza came back, I love Gary. I’m so excited for Let It Shine, I can’t wait.”
Music maestros Simon, 57, and Gary, 45, have a long-running feud dating back to the inception of Take That in the Nineties, when Simon criticised Gary’s appearance.
Simon later blamed Gary for X Factor’s ratings slump after he stepped in as head judge between 2011 and 2013.
But Nicole, who sat alongside Gary on the panel for two years, remains a firm fan.
She added: “I just love Gary Barlow. Everything he does is golden.”
This weekend Nicole is at the centre of another battle — against fellow judges Sharon and Louis, both 64.
Nicole’s last remaining act Matt Terry, 23, is competing against Sharon’s Saara Aalto, 29, and Louis’s boyband 5 After Midnight — Kieran Alleyne, 21, Nathan Lewis, 23, and Jordan Lee, 23.
It is one of the tightest finals the show has seen.
For the first time in X Factor history each of the three finalists has ended up in the bottom two during the series, surviving the sing-off to make it through.
Last week Finn Saara leapfrogged heart-throb Matt to become the bookies’ favourite.
But her sudden surge in popularity has been met with controversy.
An ITV spokeswoman last night confirmed Finnish voting DID take place — but at “well under” one per cent of the overall UK vote, “has not affected the outcome of any of the votes in the series”.
Sharon told The Sun: “If people can hack into The Pentagon they can hack into X Factor voting. But it’s like, ‘really’, come on?”
“You’re talking about millions of votes that would come in. There are only five million people in Finland.”
As the contestants fight it out to win this weekend, the drive to get the biggest chart names to duet has been fraught.
Diary clashes put paid to plans for Spice Girls Emma Bunton, 40, Geri Horner, 44, and Mel B, 41, to reunite for the show with 5 After Midnight.
Instead the boyband will perform with reigning champ Louisa Johnson and British pop band Clean Bandit.
Plans to get Oscar-winner Sam Smith, 24, and former winner James Arthur, 28, to duet also fell through, meaning Matt will perform with his mentor Nicole.
Queen frontman Adam Lambert, 34, an American Idol runner-up, will join Saara.
Guest performers The Weeknd, 26, Louis Tomlinson, 24, and Kylie Minogue, 48, complete the line-up for the two-day extravaganza.
As well as earning a music contract, the winner will make their bid for Christmas No1 with a new song penned by chart-topper Ed Sheeran.