Robbie Williams has revealed why he decided to become a judge on the new series of The X Factor.
Previously the former Take That star hinted it was all about the money, after it was reported he and his wife Ayda Field had been paid £10m to appear.
The singer said at the press conference when they were first announced as the new judges alongside Louis Tomlinson and Simon Cowell that there were “literally millions of reasons” why he wanted to take part.
Now the 44-year-old father-of-two has elaborated by saying of course the money was a factor – but that’s not the only allure of being a mentor on the ITV talent show.
He told Roman Kemp on Tuesday’s This Morning: “If I say I’m here for the competition and I’m here for The X Factor, everyone at home is like, ‘oh yeah, really? You’re here for the money and we all know that’.
‘And if you say there are ‘millions of reasons’ they say ‘how dare you quote the money!'”
So the Angels singer clarified: “It is a mixture of everything. I came for the money but I’m staying for the show.”
Auditions have already started in front of the new judges and Roman, who had a sneak peek, said Ayda is being more mean than Mr Mean himself, Simon Cowell.
“She really says it how it is,” he said. “It’s a little bit strange this year as Simon Cowell is a bit quiet! Robbie is giving it everything and Louis is really to the point.”
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The signing of Robbie and his wife is just one of the splurges ITV have made to revamp the show.
It was previously reported that around £20m has been spent to make this year’s series the best yet and win back Saturday night viewers from the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
Robbie has previously appeared on The X Factor to help the judges pick their acts for the live final and Simon is said to have always been keen to sign him up for the whole series.
A source previously told The Mirror that’s why they were prepared to pay millions to sign him and Ayda up in place of Louis Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger.
“ITV were so convinced that Robbie and Ayda would be a ratings hit they weren’t bothered about pulling out the big bucks. Everyone, including Simon, thinks it’s going to be a success,” the Mirror’s insider said.
Gaining the new judges meant paying off Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne who had previously signed three year contracts.
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Louis will now be head judge on Ireland’s Got Talent, while Sharon will return to The X Factor for the live shows where she’ll act as the only impartial judge and have the final say on who stays and who goes if a vote reaches deadlock.
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