Osbourne accuses Cowell of cowardice

Sharon Osbourne has accused Simon Cowell of acting like a coward in the wake of the recent X Factor axings.

The show's judge insisted that the decision to sack Louis Walsh and host Kate Thornton was made by Cowell, despite his claims that he was forced to ditch them by ITV executives.

"After knowing Louis for over 20 years, Simon should have had the guts to tell him to his face that he was going to get fired," Sharon told The Mirror. "I was completely shocked. It was a harsh and unfair thing to do. The very least he could have done is to have told Louis and Kate rather than pretend it was all down to the producers."

"Simon makes all the decisions and what he says goes," she added. "All he had to say was 'You know what, we want to shake things up and bring in new faces, no hard feelings'. I feel desperately sorry for Kate. Simon hasn't even bothered to call her about it."