Alesha has something Kelly doesn't...a brain - The Sun

Simon Cowell secretly hired Kelly in 2009, but axed her after two days, saying the show was too slow with four judges.

But this year the four-judge format has returned with Alesha, 33, and 40-year-old Little Britain funnyman David Walliams joining Cowell and pregnant Amanda.

Speaking as auditions opened yesterday, Amanda, 40, said: "You'll have to talk to Simon about Alesha, he booked her. It's a difficult one, but I think she's probably got something else a brain."

Comic David followed Amanda's comments by joking that model Kelly had failed to watch the ITV show before her first audition.

He said: "When Kelly did the show, she asked Ant and Dec what they did on it. I have seen the show, so I haven't made that mistake and I've learned which is Ant and which is Dec, so I should be fine.

"The others have all judged before. I haven't but, you know, it should be OK. How hard can it be?"

Asked if he was prepared to be mean, David said: "Oh yeah. But you can't take on Simon, he's the boss. You have to be yourself."

The four judges had dinner together on Thursday night as a bonding exercise ahead of yesterday's first auditions in Manchester.

And moments before they started viewing acts, 52-year-old Cowell teased his new judges that the first auditions would make or break their own BGT futures.

He said: "I'll let you know in a couple of hours, or maybe ten minutes! I'll tell them to do their jobs and not play up to the cameras.

"It literally is, 'Can you find a star, have you got an opinion, don't be afraid to argue, listen when I make a point'. We're judges, that's all you have to worry about."

Speaking about Kelly, he said: "That was a whole different situation because we didn't tell anyone, not even the other judges. She was a bit like a cuckoo in a nest.

"Actually we were the cuckoos we kicked her out, it didn't work. We won't see a repeat of that."

Cowell, who wasn't a full-time judge as ratings fell for last year's BGT, told in The Sun yesterday how his ego took a battering amid a series of TV setbacks.

But Amanda warned his new-found humility won't last long.

She said: "It's knocked him down a peg or two. He's now going to look like Superman. Come back, everyone's thrilled, and ratings will go up. He'll look like the hero. Let him have it. I'm just glad he's back."

Glowing Amanda hid her baby bump in a cape and Dolce & Gabbana dress while Alesha, poached from BBC ratings rival Strictly Come Dancing, froze in a yellow chiffon frock.

Amanda, who is eight months' pregnant, said: "I'm excited about Alesha. It will be nice having another girl to back me up."

BBC bosses were stunned when Cowell lured Alesha to BGT but she revealed she was planning to quit the hit dance show anyway.

She said: "It was time for new things. I don't want to be boxed in.

"You only get one life, it's not a rehearsal, so you have to go for it. I had to think about Simon's offer I never make rash decisions."

And Alesha insisted she was not worried that Cowell will axe her like he did Kelly, 32. She said: "Those four judges didn't work, but these four judges will."

Meanwhile Cowell has told how he fears wacky Walliams will turn up to auditions in a dress, like one of his Little Britain creations.

He said: "He could be unpredictable. He might turn up as a woman day one. Anything goes."

The media mogul also said he would turn to online comments to see how the show was going down.

He said: "I'm going to listen to the public. With Twitter and Facebook, it's so quick. We know in seconds if we've done something right or got something wrong." Cowell said he had his eye out for a magician to win BGT, although he hates magic. He said: "I've a feeling we might find a David Copperfield."

j.blackburn@the-sun.co.uk