Simon Cowell denies exploiting Susan Boyle

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Simon Cowell has denied he exploited Susan Boyle.

The reality TV mogul claims he could tell the 'Britain's Got Talent' star was struggling to cope with her newfound fame and offered to tear up her contract and excuse her from the show's final.

Simon, 49, said: "No one ever put gun to her head and said you've got to enter the show. I sat down with her and said 'Look, if this is getting too much for you, you don't have to go into the final. No one's going to force you - you do whatever you want, whatever suits you'.

"And she looked me in the eye and said, 'No I want to win this competition, I want to give it a go'. That was the decision we all made."

The 48-year-old Scottish singer - who spent five days in rehab after she collapsed from exhaustion after being named runner up at the show's final last month - is currently performing in the 'Britain's Got Talent' live tour.

Simon also insists she has no regrets about appearing on the show - even though she lost out to dance troupe Diversity.

He told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "I don't know how someone's going to cope with fame. All I can try to do is help them cope with it. I even spoke to her family about it. I asked them, 'Did we make the right or wrong decision having her on the show?'

"They said it was the right move because all Susan ever wanted to do was have a shot."