Simon Cowell reckons he picked Olly Murs and Caroline Flack as the new X Factor hosts because of their sizzling sexual chemistry.

The ITV talent show’s head judge has been shaking things up for the new series and when presenter of eight years Dermot O’Leary announced he wanted to leave, Simon knew exactly who to call.

He told The Sun: “Olly and Caroline have great chemistry. I think he fancies her, or maybe the other way round, actually.

Caroline Flack and Olly Murs
Caroline Flack and Olly Murs are the new X Factor hosts (Joel Ryan/Invision)

“Kidding aside, they love the show and they have amazing energy. It’s going to be different and that’s what we wanted.”

The music mogul added that Olly having done the show himself made him the perfect choice for host, but he didn’t like the idea of the singer being a judge and defended his decision to invite BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw to join the panel.

He explained: “Everyone was talking about him being a judge but I always thought the role he would love – because Olly’s what I call a ‘centre-stage guy’ – would be host.

Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell has plans for The X Factor (Anthony Devlin/PA)

“I have an issue with artists judging other artists. I would never allow a group of artists to run the record label, that would be crazy. You have to balance it up a bit.

“When I first appeared on TV no one knew who I was. I just ran a record label, I actually never got paid for the first time I did Pop Idol. I thought, ‘God, this is amazing, I can sit on a show and find artists. It’s fantastic’.”

Simon also admitted that The X Factor needs to take itself less seriously in order to up its ratings.

He said: “It’s got to lighten up. It all got a bit heavy last year. The important thing is that we have got to concentrate on the talent because that is what’s going to make the difference.”