Simon Cowell "felt like a bit of an idiot" when he found out 'Britain's Got Talent' winners Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse used a stunt double dog for the tightrope walk during the final.
Simon Cowell
The talent show judge has revealed that he had to "raise his voice" towards "embarrassed" producers, after over 600 complaints were received by Ofcom and ITV from viewers claiming they felt cheated.
Simon said: "The moment I found out I literally put my head in my hands. I spoke to a lot of people after, and I did raise my voice. But it was mainly people owning up to it. They felt embarrassed, they felt frustrated, they felt stupid but you've got to man up to this stuff."
The 55-year-old music mogul - who had no idea that the dog performing the tightrope walk was Chase rather than Matisse - added that he was "depressed" for the show's producers, as well as Jules herself, as no one realised "how it would appear".
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Simon said: "The producers are absolutely gutted. I was so depressed for the show, for Jules and for the producers themselves, because they are not horrible people. They didn't think how it would appear. I was frustrated because I didn't really know what I was judging until afterwards so I felt like a bit of an idiot."
"There's a cloud over [Jules] and I want that cloud to go. I want people to feel proud of her and that she did well and she should be happy."
Tagged in Simon Cowell