He told the 3,000-strong audience: “What the bloody hell? I am not going to be back next year.
“I am not kidding. I can’t do this anymore. I am 50 years old.”
Fellow judge Amanda Holden, 38, told him the show was about variety, but he answered: “This is not what this show is all about.”

Simon’s outburst followed his description of the recent Cardiff auditions as the “worst ever”.
Producers are worried the 2010 show will not live up to last year’s – which produced dance act Diversity and singing superstar Susan Boyle, 48.
Among the performers to shock the judges, including Piers Morgan, 44, at the auditions was a stripping estate agent – who was quickly buzzed off.
Another act involving a horse and Shetland pony dancing to Michael Jackson’s hit Billie Jean didn’t impress.


An insider said: “Simon didn’t think the auditions could get any worse after Cardiff, but London proved they could. The run of contestants was dismal.
“The judges just hope that some talent emerges before they wrap up the auditions.”

The final trials take place today at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

Louis Walsh was standing in for the media mogul after he was forced to call in sick with the flu.

An onlooker told the Daily Mail that fans went into a frenzy when Cowell walked on stage to face fellow judges Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden.

“He said, ‘My name is Simon and I am from London and today I am here to remove Louis Walsh from the panel’. The audience went barmy. Everybody went wild,” the source said.

Cowell, who was given the red buzzer from both Morgan and Walsh, then attempted to remove the Irish judge from his seat. Britain’s Got Talent returns to ITV1 in May.

According to The Daily Mail, Cowell has been temporarily replaced by his X Factor colleague Louis Walsh, who joins Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan on the panel.

A source said: “Simon has been terribly sick this week, he has not stopped for months and it has all caught up with him.

“He just needs some rest and he’ll be as good as new. He has been under the weather for the past week and it was clear that he could not join the judges today.”

They added: “It was all very last minute – Louis only got the call last night, but he’s already looking forward to teasing Amanda and Piers mercilessly. You can bet that he will pull no punches.”

Girlfriend Katie Price later appeared on E4’s spin-off show Big Brother’s Big Mouth.

Asked by presenter Davina on her feelings for her cage-fighter boyfriend, whom she publicly dumped after leaving the I’m A Celebrity jungle, the glamour model said: “He’s the love of my life and he knows that,” pointing out that they reunited just four days after splitting.

Price said her favourite moment on the show was when a naked Reid was spray-tanned by the other housemates.

She said: “The tanning – we are so nuts, the pair of us. Imagine what we’re like together. That is brilliant, that is so Alex.

“He’s always got his kit off so that’s not surprising.”

Price went on to praise Reid and ex-boyfriend Bowers, describing them as “genuine guys”.


She said dating both the Celebrity Big Brother winner and runner-up proved she had good taste in men.

“The two guys I’ve been with have been the last two (in the show). They are genuine guys, I don’t go for s***heads, basically.”

Reid, who is best known for dating Katie Price, has over shadowed ex-footballer and Hollywood actor Vinnie Jones in the race for the title.

Bookmakers William Hill said singer Dane Bowers is second favourite to be crowned the winner.

Actress Stephanie Beacham and dance music star Jonas Altberg, also known as Basshunter, are also in the final.

This year’s series will be the last shown on Channel 4 although the regular Big Brother starring members of the public will air in the summer.

Millionaire socialite Ivana Trump, 60, was evicted from the house on Wednesday.

She said Jones’s bossy behaviour had “alienated” him from his fellow housemates.

Fans saw presenter Davina McCall enter the compound as a housemate for the first time in Big Brother’s history.

She entered the house in the same costume that glamour model Nicola Tappenden had been wearing before her surprise eviction.

However, housemates were not fooled and guessed it was McCall in costume.

The live final starts at 2030 GMT on Channel 4

More! magazine reports that Davina will be giving the two least popular housemates the boot on Wednesday evening, just two days before the winner is crowned.

Viewers are currently voting for who they want to win, and the two with the least votes will be removed when phone lines are frozen tomorrow evening.
Ivana Trump is currently expected to be evicted first, while Dane Bowers has this week emerged as the new favourite to win the show.
The housemates have been suspicious of the impending evictions all week, and became particularly nervous on Sunday when they were chained together and Big Brother locked the bedroom.

They told the Daily Star Sunday: “There is no way this is the end. It may be rested a year or two but it will definitely be back.
“The ratings and the buzz about this year’s series has been too big for it to be axed forever.”

The current series has enjoyed some of Channel 4’s biggest audiences for the year and almost 6million viewers watched the launch episode.
The source added: “Everyone working on the show believes it still has a ­future.
“Whether that’s with Channel 4 or not, it won’t be the last you see of the show.
“It’s way too big a hit to be thrown on the scrap heap.”

The former husband of Reid’s girlfriend Katie Price started to sympathise with the cage fighter since he began to watch the show, according to Now magazine.

“Pete feels sorry for him,” a source said. “He reckons he should take the advice of his housemates, like Heidi Fleiss, and run.

“He’d warn any man off Jordan, even if he hates the guy’s guts,” the insider added. “That’s how much hurt he feels from their split.”

The ‘Mysterious Girl’ singer has started watching the reality show after previously deciding he would avoid it.

The housemates recently speculated over whether Andre and Price may enter the house as a surprise twist.

They will call each housemate into the Diary Room one by one and give them 30 seconds to nominate two of their fellow housemates. The three or more housemates with the most nominations will face eviction on Friday where 2 housemates will leave the house in another surprise double eviction.