Sharon Osbourne has joked that she offered to perform a sex act on Simon Cowell in order to seal her return to the X Factor.

The music manager was a popular judge on the show from 2004 to 2007 but she resumed her role this year after Tulisa left.

Speaking to The Sun, Osbourne quipped that she was only allowed back onto the panel because she offered to give supremo Cowell oral sex. Osbourne said:

"I said, 'If I suck your d**k can I get the job?' And he said, 'Of course'. It was very simple."

The outspoken judge is lining up this year alongside returning trio Gary Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh.

They have been travelling the UK to audition acts ahead of the show's return to TV screens later in the year.