Sharon Osbourne: I haven't watched The X Factor for five years

Speaking on the red carpet during this morning's auditions at London's Wembley Arena, Mrs O revealed, "To be honest with you, when I left I didn't watch the show anymore because I was so pissed off, but now I shall watch it again."

Although the X Factor returnee did concede that the talent contest has grown in her five-year absence. "It just seems to be like this big thing that gets bigger and bigger. You look since I've gone at all the acts that have made it - JLS, One Direction - and these bands have made it not just here but everywhere. It's a phenomenon - this thing is larger than life."

So it comes as no surprise that it took Sharon very little persuasion to replace Tulisa Contostavlos on the judging panel... "It was probably two seconds and it was 'Yes'. We [Simon and I] went out to dinner and spent time talking about it and he was just fantastic with me."

But while it looks like Cowell and Mrs O are back on good terms, don't expect her to hide her fiery temperament when it comes to this year's auditionees. "I don't think that people really change, thank God," she declared - an opinion she seems to share with her fellow judges...

"Sharon's always lively. There's nobody like her - she's a one off," said Louis Walsh. "You never know what she's going to say or do, she keeps it real."

"Every day, mad Sharon," added Gary Barlow. "It's great fun - she's unpredictable so you can't plan for anything but it's really lovely to have her back. Her and Louis are already ganging up on me and Nicole. It's artists versus managers."

"Mrs O's pretty outrageous," Nicole Scherzinger teased. "She brings more outrageousness than me. She's fun to have around and she's as real as it gets."

The tenth series of The X Factor begins on ITV this August.