Steve Brookstein has branded Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh "irrelevant".
The 46-year-old singer was the first ever winner of ‘The X Factor’ but his career bombed afterwards, but he has now come out to criticise show boss Simon and has called Louis – who has been a judge on every series – an "imbecile".
He told The Guardian: "Louis Walsh is a complete imbecile. He is a complete imbecile. What’s he had? Westlife. Westlife!
"Louis Walsh is irrelevant, musically irrelevant. Simon Cowell is musically irrelevant."
Steve – who has just released his no-holds barred memoir ‘Getting Over the X’ – also revealed that when it came to his first album Simon’s demeanour towards him totally changed from how he had been on the TV series.
Speaking about the 55-year-old music mogul, he explained: "He was extremely stern. I’d never seen him like it on ‘X Factor’. It was cold – just, ‘Look, this is how it’s going to be.’
"Inside I’m thinking: who the f**k are you talking to? I don’t take this s**t. But I thought: you know what, I’ll give you one album. But you mess this up and we’re falling out. I didn’t want to go on ‘The X Factor’ and be made a fool of. And I thought, ‘No, I’m not having this. ‘Cos I know that the music I do is good."
Steve Brookstein: Louis and Simon are irrelevant
