Nicole Scherzinger has responded to Louis Walsh's claims that his fellow X Factor judge is lying about her age. In an interview with Heat magazine, 65-year-old Louis said that the former Pussycat Dolls band member was "older than she says she is". While chatting at a X Factor Q&A attended by HELLO! Online on Wednesday, Nicole, 39, responded to Louis' interview, saying: "I wish I was lying about my age! That's the thing that sucks – I've never lied about my age. I should have started lying about it a while ago." She then quipped that Louis, who sat on the panel with her, was getting old, adding: "You know what? I'm really grateful Louis is still with us."
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Nicole teased Louis about his interview
Louis later joked about his comments, quickly explaining: "I didn't think she'd see that! I was joking when I said it. It's just that you started very young." In the interview with Heat magazine, he had said of Nicole: "She may be out really late in the night before filming but she's still on it. It's great that she can still do all of it at her age. Nobody knows what age she is, but she’s older than she says she is."
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The pair spoke about the upcoming series of X Factor
The pair also bantered at the Q&A while talking about their categories on the X Factor, with Louis hinting that Nicole goes to the producers to get the team she wants. He said: "Nicole normally gets what she wants because she goes to the producers behind my back and is like 'I want that, I want this.'" Nicole quickly responded: "Louis, are you going to come in naked on a jet ski?" The Westlife manager was full of praise for his colleague, adding: "Nicole works really, really hard behind the scenes. A lot of people don't see that. She invests a lot of time and she's on all the phone all the time to her artists. She's a great mentor, she really is. I'm a bit jealous."