Simon Cowell has said he couldn’t be happier with Mel B as an X Factor judge, gushing that she is a revelation in the role.

The show boss said she had been after the job for years, and that he was glad he had given her a shot, according to the Daily Star.

He said: “I think Mel has shown tremendous passion and protectiveness to her contestants.

Mel B
(Ian West/PA)

“She really takes this mentoring very seriously. I think she’s been a revelation. Mel has been after this job for five years and she just loves it.”

Simon admitted that Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, who judges alongside them and Louis Walsh on the ITV show, got very emotional while mentoring her acts.

He said: “Cheryl gets incredibly emotional and protective over anyone she’s left with. I know that from the phone calls that happen in the week when she’s fretting about the songs.”

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini
(Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

The music mogul added that he didn’t mind being trounced by the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in the weekend ratings because the viewing figures evened out across the week.

He explained: “The way people are watching TV is changing. We’ve done research and 66 per cent of 16 to 34-year-olds watch us on catch-up. By the time we consolidate our numbers, we’re doing about the same as Strictly.

“It just means not so many people are watching on the night but more people are watching in the week. Our numbers are actually up – they are just spread across the week.”