Cowell admits affair with Minogue

AAP

15 Apr, 2012 07:51 PM2 mins to read

Simon Cowell admits he had a crush on Dannii Minogue, this he said, led to an affair with the 'real man's girl.' Photo / AP/Supplied

A week after news of Dannii Minogue's split from long-term partner Kris Smith come claims from her British X Factor boss Simon Cowell that he had a crush on the Aussie beauty which led to an affair.

British tabloids on Sunday were plastered with Cowell's revelations that in 2007 he and Minogue were secret lovers.

"I had a crush on her. It was Dannii's hair, the sexy clothes, and the tits," Cowell, 52, told a journalist who is penning his biography.

"I was like a schoolboy. She was foxy. She was a real man's girl. Very feminine. It was genuine love."

Mum-of-one Minogue, 40, sat next to Cowell on the panel of the British hit TV talent show, where the pair shared a sometimes feisty on-screen relationship.

When rumours of romance between the couple arose in 2007 Minogue admitted flirting with the music mogul but was clear in her denial of a fling.

"I don't fancy him and I don't have a type I go for, but I like a man who makes me laugh," the Sunday Mirror quoted Minogue as saying.

Cowell, who also denied rumours of an affair at the time, said he hadn't wanted a relationship with Minogue, having just split from his long-term girlfriend.

"They are said to have spent several nights together, but the relationship petered out after a while," an unnamed source told the Mirror.

Minogue later started dating Smith, a former British rugby league player turned model, with whom she has a son.

Meanwhile, Cowell turned his interest to another X Factor judge and singer, Cheryl Cole, but he gives no further details of a relationship with her.

Minogue still works for Cowell on Australia's Got Talent.