Cheryl ColeSimon Cowell is used to being the man with the harsh-but-true lines but this time he's on the receiving end as Cheryl Cole laid into her X Factor rival.

And it seems the hostility between the judges isn't all for show. Cheryl told the BBC: "There is tension between us on the actual Saturday night, when he starts getting annoying and saying nasty things.

"It gets quite heated backstage, and quite competitive. I don't feel like I'm a competitive person.

"I feel like the best person should win The X Factor, whether they're in my category or not.

"But he's so competitive and so rude sometimes that I find myself getting caught up in it."

We're guessing that's his cunning plan, Cheryl.

Simon has given Cheryl a bit of a rocky time on this year's live shows, reducing her to tears over her song choices for Lloyd Daniels and Rikki Loney two weeks ago and Cheryl announced on this week's show that she "couldn't stand Simon's smugness anymore".

And the Geordie lass owned up to having clenched fists on occasions. She confirmed what we've known all along: "Honestly, he's really annoying. Really annoying."

Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Simon Cowell is one of best when it comes to the top reality show judges...