Simon Cowell has pledged his ongoing support to protege Joe McElderry after the singer came out as gay.
The 19 year old revealed all about his sexuality in a chat with Britain's The Sun, which was published on Saturday (31Jul10). He told his family and friends the news earlier in the week (begs26Jul10) and went to record bosses at the music mogul's SyCo company to warn them about the upcoming revelations.
I am here at the end of the phone if you need any support and we are thrilled for what you're doing
And The X Factor winner McElderry admits Cowell has backed his decision to 'come out'.
He says, "I spoke to Simon direct. He said, 'Hi, it's Simon. You know, I 100 per cent agree with what you are doing. It's fantastic. I am here at the end of the phone if you need any support and we are thrilled for what you're doing'.
"It's great. It would have been a bit of a nightmare had they said they didn't want this to happen, but they've been totally fine."
Meanwhile Cowell has axed Paul Potts from his record label to concentrate on fellow Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle's rise to global stardom.
Potts, a former salesman, became the first-ever winner of the U.K. TV talent show when he took home the crown in 2007 and has since released two hit albums.
But Potts has now been axed by executives at Cowell's SyCo label, who have been busy nurturing Boyle's singing career since she came second in the contest last year (09).
A source tells Britain's News of the World, "Simon thinks the game's up for Paul. They no longer saw eye to eye on everything and parted ways.
"As soon as Susan Boyle came along it was bound to be curtains (the end) for Paul. SuBo (Boyle) captured the world's imagination and it was hard to compete."
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