Ant & Dec 'received apology from Cowell'

Britain's Got Talent hosts Ant & Dec have claimed that Simon Cowell apologised for hiring Kelly Brook without consulting them.

In February this year, the presenters admitted that they were annoyed over the music mogul's decision to recruit Brook for the ITV1 show's panel in secret.

Brook had been axed from the programme after just six days once producers realised that the format did not work with four judges.

Speaking at the time, Dec admitted: "We were angry about Kelly. But it was because no-one asked our opinion. What was upsetting was that it happened in the first place. It was wrong from the start."

In a new interview with Q magazine, the pair have revealed that the issue was resolved after Cowell conceded that he should have sought their advice first.

Reflecting on the dispute, Ant commented: "We had a bit of an issue with him bringing in a fourth judge. But we sat down and talked about it and he apologised for not consulting us."

Dec added: "Simon's not that big a pain in the arse. He's quite charming."

Britain's Got Talent will return to screens for a fourth series next year.