Walsh: Tulisa chav jibe a joke

X Factor judges Louis Walsh and Tulisa Contostavlos showed they were still friends following his suggestion that she was a “chav”, as they cosied up at the launch of the new series yesterday.

The pair were joined by fellow judge Nicole Scherzinger and show host Dermot O’Leary as they posed in London ahead of the four-month talent search returning to screens on Saturday.

In an interview earlier this week, Walsh referred to fellow judge Tulisa as “a chav in a tracksuit”.

But arriving at the Corinthia Hotel yesterday for the official launch of the ITV1 show, he said his remarks were intended to be light-hearted.

“It was a joke but she is a little bit in a good way. We always have fun, it wasn’t meant in a bad way. We’re really good friends but I like to tell it like it is.”

Tulisa arrived at the event wearing a grey and yellow hooped bodycon minidress coupled with silver heels, while Scherzinger chose an elegant cap-sleeved, below- the-knee dress in white with matching stilettos.

Also attending were Sinitta, last year’s winners Little Mix and Xtra Factor host Caroline Flack.

Walsh promised viewers they would like the line-up of finalists. “There’s all sorts of people this year. I know who the final 12 will be and there’s someone for everybody.

“It’s not all about the voice on The X Factor — it’s also about the personality.”

Meanwhile, Nicole Scherzinger has joked she is still waiting for flowers from boy band One Direction after helping put them on the road to success.

The former Pussycat Doll, who was instrumental in the five solo singers becoming a group in the 2010 series, said their success is “wonderful”.

“It’s crazy to see how massive they are. They just performed at the Olympics and it just feels like yesterday we were auditioning them,” she said.

“I haven’t received flowers yet. I’m waiting.”

Scherzinger, who was born in Hawaii, said she notices a lot of differences between UK and US singers. “Typically in the US, we have big diva singers like Mariah, Whitney, like Melanie Amaro who just won [The X Factor USA] last yearand in the UK they are a little bit more singer-songwriterly and folkier.”