Ananova:

Jack Osbourne has called Simon Cowell a "slimeball" and said he begged mum Sharon not to go on X Factor with him.

He was furious she took part after Cowell called dad Ozzy's quad bike crash a "publicity stunt" and made rude quips about sister Kelly reports The Sun.

Jack, 18, revealed: "I didn't want my mom to do it. It was pretty yellow-bellied to go on a show with a guy who's said so many nasty things about her family and kids. But she went on and the show's ... interesting. Simon Cowell is a slimeball."

Cowell's spokesman hit back: "I'd be amazed if Jack could spell slimeball, never mind understand what it means."

Jack - just back from filming Extreme Health Farm, to be aired on Channel 4 next year - said X Factor has made Sharon, 51, a superstar.

He added: "She's got what she needed, that level of celebritydom. It's a little annoying."

He said he will try and talk Sharon out of a second series of X Factor - unless Cowell offers her £8million for the "stress".