Cilla Black says she turned down ‘X Factor’ 2014 judging role

Cilla Black has revealed that she turned down the opportunity to be a judge on The X Factor.

The 71-year-old said that she was offered the chance to sit alongside Simon Cowell on the current series.

Speaking to the Radio Times about the opportunity, she said: “I couldn’t because I wouldn’t be able to tell the truth. The meanest I’d get is saying ‘it hasn’t worked out for you this time, but go back and do your homework’.

“I couldn’t be like Simon Cowell. He’s not nasty, by the way, but tells it like it is.”

Black said, however, that she would definitely audition for the ITV talent contest if she was at the start of her career.

“Today I’d be first in the queue for The X Factor and there’s no doubt whatsoever that I’d win,” she said.

Cowell is joined by Louis Walsh, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Mel B on the current series of the singing competition, which returned to ITV last month.

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