One spring evening back in 2007 I found myself sitting next to Cheryl Tweedy – then Cole – and her Girls Aloud bandmates at one of the hippest nightclubs in London.
There to promote a deal with a haircare brand, the singers were in a chatty mood.
‘What do you think of Louis Walsh?’ Cheryl asked me over a glass of champagne at 24 in Soho. I shrugged my shoulders, but did say that I knew he was partial to being rude about his X Factor colleagues to journalists, including the show’s creator Simon Cowell.
‘We don’t like him, do we girls?’ she said, turning to her bandmates. ‘No!’ was their unanimous response.
And with good reason. The girl group had been lumbered with Walsh – the mogul behind Irish boybands including Boyzone and Westlife – as their manager, when they were put together on ITV talent show, Popstars: The Rivals.
Walsh soon made it clear, in his trademark outspoken style, that he would rather have been teamed up with another all-male group.
Some years later, when Tweedy was reunited with Walsh after joining The X Factor as a judge, he compared her to a peacock, accusing her of believing the ITV series was ‘her show’. He even taunted her on-air about looking ‘orange’.
Only last year, Walsh had another go at her, claiming that she ‘lip-syncs’ rather than singing when performing live and would not win The X Factor if she was a contestant.
Yes, Walsh was, and still is, a grade-A gossip who is disliked by many in the showbusiness world.
And so I’m stunned that the streetfighting Irishman, who is currently appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, kicked off a very public feud with the Irish singing and TV presenting duo Jedward by telling his fellow housemates the pair were ‘vile’ during Tuesday’s episode, before boasting he ‘got £5million from them’.
Jedward – Irish brothers John and Edward Grimes, both 32 – responded by branding Walsh an ‘evil manipulator’ who they allege tried ‘to make us sign our name and life away in dodgy contracts to people he was great friends with’ and ‘forced us into an office to pay £70k+ to… one of his own PR workers’.
They also accused him of being a ‘cold hearted b*****d who didn’t send flowers after their mother’s death’.
This isn’t the first time these two parties have engaged in a war of words. Their paths first crossed in 2009 when Walsh, then an X Factor judge, was appointed Jedward’s ‘mentor’. Seven years later he described them as ‘the most embarrassing thing to happen to him’.
Walsh is also said to have compared Cheryl Tweedy to a peacock when she joined X Factor as a judge, accusing her of believing the ITV series was ‘her show’
Jedward – Irish brothers John and Edward Grimes, both 32 – responded to Walsh’s jibes by calling him an ‘evil manipulator’
Now that battle is raging, Jedward may have more to say. Someone who was around when they were working with Walsh warned: ‘If those boys decide to come out and say more, things could get pretty uncomfortable for Louis. I don’t know what he is playing at.’
Quite. Over a long period of time, I saw for myself how two-faced Walsh could be about people he came into contact with.
Some years back, my then showbiz editor took a call from Walsh, who – after telling him he had quit as a judge on The X Factor – proceeded to go on a tirade against Simon Cowell, the man who had hired him on a salary just shy of £1million per episode.
In 2009, Walsh also had some choice words about his then Saturday night rival show, Strictly Come Dancing, telling me that it was ‘finished’ and that he ‘didn’t really know who [professional dancer] Anton Du Beke is’.
He would also turn on journalists, myself included. He seemed to get some kind of bizarre kick out of banning people from Press events simply because it was their turn to be on the receiving end of his wrath.
But Walsh’s Jedward outburst could become a bigger problem for ITV, which broadcasts Celebrity Big Brother. Walsh and Sharon Osbourne – his fellow X Factor judge – were hired by the show for their ability to generate controversy, win column inches and pull in viewers.
By doing so, they have unearthed some deeply unpleasant memories among contestants who were subjected to their insults. While a number of the wannabes X Factor turned into stars have already come forward with damning claims about their experiences on the show, the brand has weathered the storm.
But if Walsh continues to mouth off about the likes of Jedward, it may well prompt other artists who had their careers kick-started by the show to air their own complaints about their treatment on the ITV series by various people, as well as allegations of failures in The X Factor’s duty of care.
Jedward have already described going on the now-defunct television juggernaut as their ‘biggest regret in life’ and say that they ‘should have told the judges to f*** off’.
As for Cheryl and Girls Aloud, with a comeback tour to mark their 20th anniversary now imminent, surely they have the perfect opportunity to sound off about Walsh once again.
But for now, Tweedy’s words about Walsh back in 2010 have aged exceedingly well. ‘Louis is a silly old man looking for attention,’ she said. I couldn’t have put it better myself.
