Simon Cowell had Louis Walsh axed from his British talent show, X-Factor. This upset the Irish music manager and mogul so much that he struck back. He will now appear as a judge on the new BBC reality TV show Any Dream Will Do. Sources have reported that Louis “was really hurt by the way Simon dropped him without speaking to him directly.”

Walsh isn’t the only one upset by that. In fact, Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy’s other – and perhaps, better – half is really incensed about Walsh’s sacking. (Kate Thornton, the hostess of the X-Factor, also got the axe.) Osbourne is a judge on the X-Factor. Not one to mince words, Mrs. Ozzy called Cowell a “coward.” She told the Mirror that “After knowing Louis for over 20 years, Simon should have had the guts to tell him to his face that he was going to get fired.”

Osbourne pooh-poohed Cowell’s claim that the firing was the producer’s decision. According to her, “Simon makes all the decisions and what he says goes. All he had to say was 'You know what, we want to shake things up and bring in new faces, no hard feelings'.”

Sharon admits that she’s baffled by all the changes especially since the show’s been at the top of the ratings heap for three years now. "The formula wasn't broken so why fix it? I'll miss Louis dreadfully. We had the right balance and chemistry."

David Gest, Lisa Minelli’s ex-husband, and Aussie songstress Dannii Minogue, Kylie’s baby sis, are being bounced around as possible replacements for the displaced Walsh.