FOLLOWING the sudden and unexpected death of former One Direction member Liam Payne, “Britain’s Got Talent” judge Simon Cowell has announced that he will be stepping down from the show.
According to IMDb, Cowell has been judging on television shows ever since he became a part of “Pop Idol” all the way back in 2001. He has been a judge on numerous shows since then such as “America’s Got Talent”, “The X Factor”, and “American Idol”.
He grew to fame as a judge because of his cutthroat, unfiltered manner of speaking; people loved him because he would say what everyone else wanted to, but was too afraid to.
However, after the filming of the ITV show was halted last Wednesday due to Payne’s passing, Cowell has decided to call it quits.
As per publication The Sun, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, KSI, and Bruno Tonioli will continue on with filming, and it is possible that Tonioli will be standing in as Cowell’s official replacement.
A source has told the publication that the news has hit Cowell extremely hard, and since finding out, he has been shocked and devastated.
“He adored Liam, and was close to his family with whom he is sure to reach out privately,” the source explained.
“He didn’t feel it was right to continue with filming BGT, and when it resumes on Saturday, does not feel he’ll be in the right headspace to continue.”
Auditions for the show have also been placed on hold. Everyone involved in the show has since shown him nothing but support in his decision.
Liam and Simon
Cowell first met Payne during the latter’s first audition for The X Factor back in 2008. Payne was 14 years old at the time.
Cowell would then tell him to come back and audition again in two years after Payne failed to get through boot camp. Payne followed this and returned for another audition in 2010, where One Direction was ultimately formed, and history was made as they became one of the most famous boy bands in the world.
After their time on The X Factor, the group then signed with Cowell’s Syco record label, before moving on to solo projects outside of the label in 2015.
In 2022, Payne said during his appearance on the podcast “Impaulsive” that he had dinner with Cowell, and the latter had told him that he didn’t want to let Payne go, but he had to so that Payne could get their education and then come back in two years.
He also said that one of the reasons why One Direction was formed was because Cowell had told him, “I’ll make this work for you,” saying that he started with Payne’s face and then “worked around the rest.”
Cowell has not yet addressed whether or not this is true.
Regardless, Cowell and Payne remained close to one another, stating that Payne’s death has left him feeling empty in a statement he posted to Instagram.
“I wanted to let you know what I would always say to the thousands of people who would always ask me, “What is Liam like?”” he wrote.
“I would tell them you were kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused. And how much you loved music. And how much love you genuinely had for the fans.”
He ended the message by saying: “Rest in peace my friend. And I am sending my love, thoughts and prayers to your family.”
We at republicasia also extend our heartfelt condolences to the Payne family during these times.
