X Factor patriarch, L.A.Reid, has denied rumours that Whitney Houston was set to join the show’s U.S. panel.
Reid told WENN, “We love Whitney and we would have certainly considered it, but the truth is it never quite came to that.
“There was an interest there, but we never actually had meetings about it…We didn’t really get that far. So I don’t think it’s proper to comment beyond that.”
Producer Simon Cowell went public with the news that he had been considering the 48-yar-old singer/actress as a replacement for axed judges, Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, but Reid has insisted that the media have his comments out of context.
Britney Spears and Mariah Carey are rumoured to be in the running for a panel appearance alongside Cowell and Reid with no replacement yet announced for sacked host, Steve Jones.
The media mogul has confirmed that his show will pay tribute to the star, but in a different way to rival shows The Voice and American Idol.
Cowell said: “I think we have to do it in a different way. But the important thing is that we’re going to continually pay tribute to Whitney Houston on this show because we love her, we love her songs, and there probably won’t ever be a season where you won’t hear a Whitney song. They’re timeless.”
