will.i.am believes Cheryl Fernandez-Versini showed "courage" to return to ‘The X Factor’ as a judge.
The Black Eyed Peas star is very proud of his friend – who he has collaborated with on several occasions since 2008 and managed until last October – for having the guts to work on Simon Cowell’s pop star search series following her firing from the US version of the show in 2011.
Speaking on Irish TV show ‘Xposé’ on TV3, will said: "It took a lot of courage, a lot of thick skin. It took balls for her to go back so hats off to her and her strength."
will.i.am acts as a judge on rival show ‘The Voice’ and he admits he is going to miss departed mentor Kylie Minogue because she was a good "snuggler".
He said: "Kylie is a sweetheart. She’s the perfect snuggler. Yeah you just want to like kind of snuggle Kylie."
Kylie will be replaced on ‘The Voice’ by Rita Ora. She will join the ‘Scream & Shout’ hitmaker, Sir Tom Jones and Ricky Wilson on the panel.
Meanwhile, will.i.am has revealed he would love to work with U2 after recently meeting frontman Bono but he accepts it’s unlikely to happen.
He said: "Yeah that would be awesome (to work with Bono) but that’s dreaming too big. I want to keep my dreams down to earth. I’m already out there."
will.i.am: Cheryl had courage to return to X Factor
