Mary Byrne: 'Simon and Louis make The X Factor'

Mary Byrne: 'Simon and Louis make The X Factor' (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh are needed on the X Factor panel, according to former contestant Mary Byrne. Music mogul Simon is rumoured to be giving up his judge's seat on the reality talent competition to focus on the launch of the US version, but the Irish singer reckoned it just wouldn't be the same without him. Mary said: "He's going to be sadly missed this year, Simon, if he's not with Louis. It's probably not going to happen this year, but Simon is the main man." Asked what the different judges - Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Louis - bring to the panel, she added: "Dannii is a strong woman. Cheryl has her emotions and we need that. "Louis can shed a tear, be totally honest and brutal, yet kind. He brings a mixture of all the others in himself on the panel. "I genuinely think without Louis on that panel, it just didn't look right." Mary, whose debut album Mine And Yours is out now, enjoys the chemistry between Simon and Louis, and hopes both will return for the next series. "When him and Simon get together, watch the sparks fly. It's unbelievable. They're such good friends, but when they're bickering with each other, it's exciting," she said. "I hope they will return. I don't think the show would be the same if the two of them went. It'd be hard enough without Simon. I love that show. I can't wait for the next series," she added.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.