Simon Cowell has appeared to lay the blame for The X Factor's ratings slump at the door of departing judge Gary Barlow.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, SiCo claimed that he had a different approach to the show to Gaz - because he wasn't afraid of being overshadowed by the contestants.

"The truth is — and I am not being rude — I wouldn't hire Gary to run my record label," he told the paper.

"Essentially that is what you are doing with the X Factor judging panel. But if Gary and I were running a record label we would do it in a different way.

"I think all these shows have become so celebrity driven, you are hiring someone based on how famous they are and I am not sure that is a good thing in the long term.

"A record executive is more likely to want to find the next big star than another artist who may be thinking, 'I have found a star who could sell more records than me'. I run a record label so I couldn't care less."

But SiCo insisted that it was a different story when it came to returning judge Cheryl Cole - saying she is passionate about finding new talent.

"That's why I hired her. She is the one who really spotted Cher Lloyd. When she had a breakdown at Judges' Houses she still backed her."

He also revealed that he had decided to return to the UK show as long ago as last summer - and that the writing was on the wall for Barlow from that point.

"Gary was seen as the head judge — and so am I," he said ominously.

Discussing the departure of popular, hard-working judge Nicole Scherzinger - SiCo also suggested that he had had a hand in her leaving.

He claimed that Scherzy would have clashed with Chezza on the judging panel and hinted that he took an executive decision.

"I didn’t think the two of them would work well together," he said.

SiCo also backed Louis Walsh to return, despite reports that Cheryl Cole is opposed to working with him after his feud with Girls Aloud.

And he said the fourth seat on the panel is still up for grabs.

"I like Mel B," he declared. "We have got about a month to decide and we are meeting a lot of people. A lot of it actually depends on how much work they are willing to put in during the week.

"But when I think back to Pop Idol all those years ago. I wasn't thinking, 'Will the people who watch the show like me or Pete or Nicki or Foxy?'

"I was only thinking, 'Will they like the contestants who come on the show?'.

"So the most important thing is we don't think about – on the judging side – who will like who, or we lose focus. The focus has to be on the contestants."

We told you yesterday how SiCo had revealed that he suffered from depression last year.