Osbourne: 'Why I turned down Strictly this year'

Sharon Osbourne is set to appear on Strictly Come Dancing in 2009.

Osbourne, 55, said she wanted to take part in the dance contest, which goes head-to-head with the 'X Factor' on Saturday nights, next year.

The former 'X Factor' judge said she turned down an offer to appear in the series this year because it would have looked wrong.

But she said she was definitely keen to sign up for 2009.

She said: “I was asked to do Strictly this year. I did think about it. I really have a passion for the show.

It would look so rotten, so wrong for me to do it this year. Maybe next year.”

She told the Edinburgh International Television Conference: “The dancing show looks like such a great show. It seems such a great show to work on.”

Osbourne was alleged to have quit the 'X Factor' after ITV bosses refused to cave in to a £1m (€1.2m) pay rise.

She joked today: “For programme-makers, reality TV is cheap, unless of course you ask me to do it, it’s very cheap.”

Osbourne said several reality TV shows were “not really real”, adding: “A lot of the shows which are filmed in people’s homes aren’t (reality).”

But she said of the 'X Factor': “It definitely is not put on. It’s very emotional. You have a huge responsibility to people. Believe me it’s as real as it can be for good and for bad.

“There are times on the 'X Factor' that you wish you could take back what you’ve done but it’s live TV. You can never take it back. It’s too late.”

Of going from her husband Ozzy’s manager to becoming a TV star, she said: “Believe me I’d much rather be doing this than watching a band perform at three in the morning so I’m in, yeah.”

She said of the Osbournes: “I knew it would be interesting to watch. I didn’t know it would be the huge blueprint for celebrity TV.”