Louis Walsh was over an hour late to 'The X Factor' auditions last week.
The 60-year-old pop mogul kept show bosses waiting for so long that they were forced to begin the live auditions at London's Wembley arena last Wednesday (17.07.13) without him.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Louis always used to be the first to arrive for the show but recently he has been later and later. Now he tends to be the last judge to arrive and, on Wednesday we had to start filming without him because he was running so late.
"He was still in his hotel when the other judges were at the studio, so producers pushed back the schedule by half an hour. But he still wasn't there.
"The whole team were tearing their hair out but there were 40 hopefuls due to audition that day, so they had no choice but to start with an empty seat."
Louis' fellow judges Sharon Osbourne, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger appeared amused by his tardiness, but the production team behind the ITV singing competition are said to be worried about his laidback attitude.
The insider added: "Luckily the other three judges saw the funny side. But people have remarked that it does seem that the show has now slipped down Louis' list of priorities."
The Irish music manager - who is responsible for the likes of Westlife and Boyzone's success - missed a dramatic start to the auditions on Wednesday when one singing hopeful smashed the judges' water glasses.
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