Cowell mocks Louis Walsh for Irish bias

Simon Cowell makes fun of Louis Walsh for showing prejudice to Irish contestants on this week's X Factor.

Cowell bickers with Walsh after Dublin-born brothers John and Edward perform the Backstreet Boys hit 'I Want It That Way'.

The 49-year-old SyCo boss describes the duo as "amazing" and "obnoxious" and brands them as the "most irritating contestants" he has seen in a long while.

However, before they even perform, Cowell jokes that Walsh would vote "yes" for the pair to go through to the next round. When they reveal where they are from, Cowell laughs: "Well, it's a yes from Louis then!"

Walsh was criticised in the 2005 edition of the show for picking Irish girl group The Conway Sisters over Maria Lawson. Sharon Osbourne accused him of voting with his passport rather than on talent.

After a 25-year-old plasterer called Roy sings a Maroon 5 cover, Cowell mocks Walsh again, arguing that he only likes male performers with "blonde hair, wearing a blazer and singing 'You Raise Me Up'".

Other divisive auditions in the opening episode come from 25-year-old French waiter and Mariah Carey fanatic Fouad, who Cowell compares to a Star Wars character, a pork pie factory worker called David, and The Stunners, two 17-year-old students who sing Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'.

The sixth series of The X Factor starts this Saturday at 7pm on ITV1.