Sharon Osbourne rules out 'X Factor' return

Los Angeles, Jan 19 (IANS) Sharon Osbourne has said the ‘X Factor’ did "damage" to people's lives as she confirmed she's not interested in a return.

The former judge said things must change if the programme was ever to return, admitting she wouldn't want to have "responsibility" again as it is not fair to be laughing at people, reports Mirror.co.uk.

In 2018, Sharon sensationally quit the ITV show just weeks after she launched into a expletive-filled tirade against Simon Cowell and described the singing contest as 'f****** karaoke'.

She was on the panel of the talent show from 2004 to 2007, before making a return in 2013 and then again 2016. With a reboot said to be in discussion, the blunt star - one of the most popular judges since the programme first aired - says she'll never go back.

As per Mirror.co.uk, the 71-year-old was speaking to host Jackie Brambleson on her Greatest Hits Radio show and spoke about the past and the future.

She said she doesn't regret her years on the flagship show looking back and explained, "I got to meet some incredible people – Louis (Walsh) is still like my brother, Nicole (Scherzinger) and Gary Barlow are amazing people. But as far as talent shows go, and I've been away from it for a while, it was kind of like the Wild West.”

She continued: “You didn't really know the importance and what it does to people's lives and as far as I'm concerned, the whole thing needs to be changed. As well as giving people, a lot of people, opportunities with their careers it can also damage a lot of people too. You have to be very, very careful. You're handling people's lives, you've got their future in your hands and it's not anything to laugh at.”

Asked about a return one day, she replied: "I wouldn't want that responsibility again, there's damage out there and I wouldn't want to be a part of that. I don't regret it, I learnt a lot about the responsibility of doing a show like that, and it was a great education.”

She spoke about Simon's other show, ‘Britain's Got Talent’, on TalkTV last year, as she said: "These type of shows I think are very dated. It's over trawled here, so they bring talent from around the world – like they do in America. They'll bring all Europeans over, just like they stood in line to rehearse when it's set up before. I always used to say that after one or two seasons, if you've been watching that show and you go in and audition you know what you're going to get.”