Simon Cowell's dogs have the "best personalities in the world".
Simon Cowell
The music mogul is devoted to his Yorkshire terriers Squiddly and Diddly and loved the fact his fellow 'X Factor' judges, Nick Grimshaw, Rita Ora and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, joined him in bringing their pet pooches along to filming this season.
He said: "Nick's got one called Pig. She's huge, really happy, soft and friendly. Cheryl's were cute but a bit snappy. Rita's is really cute and just runs in circles all day long.
"Then my two have the best personalities in the world."
Simon and his fellow judges shared an instant suspicion of people who don't warm to their canine companions.
He added to heat magazine: "We all love dogs. We judge people on how much they love animals - when someone doesn't like animals, we're like, 'We don't like you very much.'"
The 55-year-old star has been showing his lighter side during filming the auditions and has even nicknamed the female judges after his dogs.
A source said: "The judges click and are more at ease. They're all having fun, with more banter.
"Simon calls Rita and Cheryl 'Squiddly and Diddly' and he tried to distract Cheryl at the auditions by making weird animal noises."
Tagged in Cheryl Tweedy Simon Cowell Rita Ora