Amanda Holden hopes Simon Cowell's weight loss has made him "Mr. Nasty" again.

Amanda Holden

Amanda Holden

The 49-year-old star thinks her fellow 'Britain's Got Talent' judge has "gone soft" on contestants in recent series and hopes his dramatic transformation will bring out his "evil" side and make him more harsh on the hopefuls.

She said: "I'm hoping that [the weight loss] means he gets back to being more evil, because I think he's gone a bit soft.

"Now he's back to his slimmer self, I think he's going to go back to being Mr Nasty! Which I'm really praying for, because that's who I love. 'I love evil Simon best of all!"

But despite her jokes, the former 'Cutting It' actress is delighted the 60-year-old music mogul has been able to shed the pounds thanks to a strict vegan diet.

She said: "With Simon it was such a gradual thing, I noticed immediately that he had lost weight. We finished auditions last year, and then got back together two weeks later for deliberations. I said straightaway, 'Right, what have you been doing, because you look amazing!'

"He said what he'd started doing, the foods he'd been cutting out and how it had made such a difference in just two weeks. So, I just feel happy for him."

However, Simon's diet means he's now missing out on a post-show ritual with Amanda and fellow judges David Walliams and Alesha Dixon.

Speaking ahead of the return of the show, Amanda said: "I used to love having our dinners together. It was part of our chat on the panel.

"We'd sort of be clock watching, and when we knew the last couple of people were coming on we'd be like, 'Oh, what you having for your tea?' And he'd go, 'It's not tea, darling. It's dinner!'

"Then we'd have fish and chips or beans on toast, things like that. But this new healthy eating is working for him because he's got a spring in his step, he's got his mojo back!"

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