X Factor 2015: Simon Cowell says Cheryl Fernandez eats like a horse'

Simon Cowell has admitted that he admires Cheryl Fernandez-Versini's 'openness' about trying to gain weight.

The X Factor head judge has spoken out about criticism surrounding his co-star's small frame, claiming that she 'eats like a horse' and isn't 'trying to make herself thin.'

 

Opening up about the 32-year-old, Cowell told The Sun: "This is not someone who's trying to make herself thin.

"I think she did pick up a bug. And I think the way she's approaching what was addressed about her weight in a very open way - by saying she is thin and is trying to put on weight - is great."

Saying that the former Girls Aloud star 'eats like a horse', Cowell revealed that the pair went looking for a burger together after the recent Manchester auditions.

He said: "For some reason we wanted a Wimpy rather than a McDonalds. We couldn't find one in the end but we found another burger shop and she had the same as me."

Fernandez-Versini recently hit back at an Instagram troll who criticised her for being too thin, calling the person out for 'body-shaming'.

She wrote: "I am so sick and tired of it being ok to call somebody too thin or a ‘bag of bones’. I would never dream of calling somebody too fat and that they should maybe cut down on their food intake? What is the difference?"

The I Don't Care singer went on to say that her slimmer figure was to do with the stress and grief involved with recently losing her father-in-law.