Amanda Holden: Simon Cowell knows it's "not cool" to pit female judges against each other

“Simon’s stopped doing it now,” she tells this week's Radio Times. “He knows it’s not cool.”

Fellow ITV talent show The X Factor notoriously featured a bitter feud between judges Sharon Osbourne and Dannii Minogue.

However, after Dixon joined long-time judge Holden on Britain’s Got Talent in 2012, a beautiful friendship blossomed – prompting a re-think about what women actually want to see on TV.

Asked why she and her female co-judge have never played along with any attempts to turn them against each other, Holden explains: “It’s not what women are naturally like and it’s not what women want to watch.”

The 45-year-old says she watches the X Factor auditions but skips the live shows. "[Simon] doesn't believe me! But it's true. I don't watch Britain's Got Talent back afterwards, either, although Simon always does.

"I just watch the beginning to check the outfit looks OK. The only time I watched it was when Pudsey won."

Catch the full interview with Amanda in this week's Radio Times – on sale in shops and on the newsstand from Tuesday 5th October.