Simon Cowell defends Olly Murs X Factor mistake and says way he handled it was ‘great’

The head judge has stuck up for Murs and revealed he still supports the presenter 100 per cent
Laugh it off: Simon Cowell with Olly Murs
David Fisher/Rex Shutterstock
Emma Powell24 November 2015
The Weekender

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Simon Cowell has defended Olly Murs’ X Factor blunder, saying the way the presenter handled it was “great”.

Murs, 31 – who co-presents the show with Caroline Flack – prematurely announced Monica Michael’s elimination before he had been handed the envelope containing the deadlock decision which led some fans to deem the show a “fix”.

Fans also questioned whether Murs would be sacked from the show – but Simon Cowell has revealed that he laughed it off.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Cowell said: “There were a lot of people screaming in his ears, they were trying to get him to clarify something.

X Factor Judges 2015

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“Anyone in that situation is going to screw up. I think the way he handled it was great, it’s part of his charm.

“I think every week he’s getting better and better. People have got to get used to it but he’s got a massive future ahead of him, 100 per cent he’s still got my support.”

The head judge – who this weekend lost his final over 25s act – said after the gaffe they all laughed about it backstage.

“We laughed about all that afterwards,” he said. “We could record this show and not do it live, the fact that certain things go wrong is what I think makes the show interesting.”

Despite support from Cowell, former judge Louis Walsh has hit out at Murs' presenting abilities.

Speaking to OK! he said: "Olly Murs in slow motion calling out the wrong name, then apologising madly to Simon - that was great telly! But Dermot [O'Leary] would never have made a mistake like that.

"But then Olly’s a pop star pretending to be a presenter."

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