Joe McElderry thinks Simon Cowell is ‘a bit of a big softie’

Joe McElderry thinks Simon Cowell is more Mr Softie than Mr Nasty.

Joe (he won the X Factor last year, remember?) spoke to stv.tv about the X Factor judge.

“I think he’s a bit of a big softie. When I met him I was so scared, I remember the first rehearsal we had and he walked in the room and everyone was like ‘oh’ (gasps)…and it just went silent. I used to have to think of things to talk about because I’d just lose my tongue straight away.”

“But he’s really nice, he is really, really genuinely nice,” Joe said, adding: “He’s really honest and he’s really nice, and he’s not that scary in real life.”

Joe also spoke about mentor Cheryl Cole.

“She’s an amazing person, she’s so nice. What you see on TV is what you get with her, she’s exactly the same, and I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor,” he said.