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Simon Cowell Was Considering Whitney Houston as X Factor Judge

The reality mogul confirms Houston could have replaced Paula Abdul.

2012 could have been a huge year for Whitney Houston. The iconic singer, who died suddenly on Saturday afternoon, was being considered as a judge on hit competition show The X Factor, executive producer Simon Cowell confirmed to Piers Morgan.
"The rumors that had got back to us ... and that's often what happens when people want to be on these shows, somebody tells someone to get the word out, it's normally a sign that they are interested," Cowell told the CNN host, suggesting that Houston could have expressed interest in joining the Fox series.
"We were ironically going to meet on Monday and of course, one of the names we were going to be talking about in that meeting as a possible mentor on the new series of X Factor was going to be Whitney Houston," he said.
Cowell added, "Given the choice, I would have liked to have taken her under my wing as well, because she would have been the ultimate, ultimate mentor to any contestant coming on the show."
The outspoken host went on to share his reaction to Houston's death. "I am absolutely devastated by this news," Cowell said. "I am so sad for her. She was undoubtedly the greatest superstars of all time. One of the greatest voices in our time we're likely ever to hear."


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