{alltv} Simon Cowell fights rumors of 'Britain's Got Talent' fix: 'Complete and utter lies'

Friday, June 3, 2011

{alltv} Simon Cowell fights rumors of 'Britain's Got Talent' fix: 'Complete and utter lies'

Simon Cowell took to the air Friday night (June 3) to denounce a report that he has manipulated the results of "Britain's Got Talent."

An anonymous blog post (since taken down) this week claimed that Cowell secretly had 12-year-old "Britain's Got Talent" finalist Ronan Parke under contract for two years, groomed him for his "BGT" debut this season, then fixed the competition so Parke would win. The writer claimed to be an executive at Sony BMG Music, which has a long-standing relationship with Cowell, and posted his or her claims on a Polish site called JustPaste.it.

Lawyers for Cowell and his company, Syco (which produces "Britain's Got Talent"), have been attempting to track the writer down and have asked London police to investigate the writer for the crime of "malicious communication." On Friday's edition of "Britain's Got Talent," Cowell addressed the rumors. Here's what he said, according to the Daily Mail:

"There have been allegations made in the papers, not in the papers actually, on the Internet, that Ronan Parke has a previous recording contract with my record label, that I'd met him before, both of which are complete and utter lies. The first time I met Ronan was when he appeared on the show; he entered it of his own accord. He is 12 years old. This is a deliberate smear campaign, and it is my job as somebody who works on this show to make sure whoever this liar is, is exposed."

Ronan also dismissed the claim, saying in an interview with ITV (which also airs "Britain's Got Talent") that he'd never met Cowell before appearing on the show. "I have been coached by a singing teacher in Norwich that we pay for," he says. "No one's paid for our clothes or anything. It's really silly. It's just silly that people think that. They're just jealous that people are having a good time."

The finale of "Britain's Got Talent" airs on Saturday, and Ronan is the favorite to win. Go here to see him perform in last week's semifinals.