Simon Cowell has spoken about his on-screen breakdown, confirming the tears were shed for his beloved mother, Julie, who died aged 89 a few days before the audition.
While watching hopeful Josh Daniels' rendition of Labrinth's Jealous - which was dedicated to his best friend, who died in a car crash age 18, Simon was seen wiping away tears, before walking backstage and swiftly giving his microphone back.
Talking to The Sun, Simon told ITV producers he did not want to be involved in deciding whether to screen the emotional moment, because it was too painful.
He said: “They were very cautious about showing the footage to me in the first place for obvious reasons. But then you’ve got to take your personal hat off and put on your producer’s hat, because what happened and it’s not fair on the contestant not to show it."
“You can’t censor stuff like that. In the end I kind of just said to them, ‘I’m OK with it’, but I don’t want to approve anything, I’ll let you make your decision as to what is acceptable and what isn’t.
“Then, when I watched it on the show, it was very difficult to watch back, but that’s just what happens when you make one of these shows."
“Of course, it brought it all back. It is a very difficult thing to know what to do."
“The contestant didn’t know the situation. He wasn’t doing it to make me upset. He sang the song for his own reasons.“It was more important that he did a good audition."
“But it was very raw and it did take me back to the moment, but I think in quite a healthy way. Being upset is a human thing.”
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