Cheryl Fernandez-Versini says Louis Walsh is going deaf.
The ‘Only Human’ singer insists her fellow ‘X Factor’ judge has become hard of hearing since she re-joined the ITV talent show earlier this year and claims she, Mel B and Simon Cowell had to constantly repeat the names of those auditioning earlier this year.
She explained: "We went through stages where people would say, ‘My name is Ben’, and he would be like, ‘Ken?’ And we would be like, ‘Ben!’
"We have told him he needs a hearing aid but I don’t think it went down very well."
However, Louis has hit back at Cheryl, 31, by suggesting he damaged his hearing while listening to her music.
He told The Sun newspaper: "Maybe that’s from listening to her records!
"Anything she can say I can hit back twice as hard."
The 62-year-old music manager – who mentored Cheryl and her Girls Aloud bandmates when they appeared on ‘Popstars: The Rivals’ in 2002 – went on to reveal that he hopes his colleague will perform her new single ‘I Don’t Care’ on ‘The X Factor’ later this year.
Appearing to make a dig, he added: "I’d like to see her perform, singing and dancing. I hope she sings live. I’m sure she can."
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini says Louis Walsh is going deaf
