Louis Walsh rules out X Factor return as he recalls medical episode on Celebrity Big Brother

Louis Walsh has revealed he may have suffered a minor heart attack while appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, as he also ruled out a potential X Factor return as he is “too old”.

The Irish pop manager and TV personality, 74, praised ITV medics for looking after him but said he regretted going on the show while suffering with “anxiety problems”.

Appearing on The 2 Johnnies podcast this week, the former X Factor judge explained: “I thought it was going to be fun. It wasn’t fun. I had anxiety problems and I had to get the medics.

“My doctor thinks I had a minor heart attack. I couldn’t sleep at night times and we were all locked in and it was dark and I’d try and get out.”

Walsh said he was let out a few times “to have a cup of tea”, while confirming he was looked after “very well” but adding that his participation in the show was “a big mistake”.

“I did it for the money but I shouldn’t have,” he said.

The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.

Walsh’s friend Sharon Osbourne, another former X Factor judge, also appeared on the show: “We did it for the money, we’re like hookers,” he joked, while sharing that Sharon is “not in a good place” following the death of her husband, rock star Ozzy Osbourne.

Walsh spoke about his health issues while appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, where he shared that he had been diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer during lockdown.

He clarified to his fellow housemates that the cancer had cleared and he was now “fine” but admitted the ordeal had taken a toll on his mental health.

Walsh’s friend, TV presenter Rylan Clark, said in 2024 that the former Westlife manager was “a shell of a man” following his Celebrity Big Brother stint.

Walsh caused a stir with his loose-lipped gossip sessions in the CBB house, in which he called out celebrities including Simon Cowell, Cheryl Tweedy, Ronan Keating, and Jedward.

He called the pop duo “vile” but added, “they were great” as a qualifier. The comments did not go unnoticed as Jedward responded to his statements calling their former manager a “weirdo”.

In the 2 Johnnies interview, Walsh said he had ruled out a return to Cowell’s rumoured X Factor reboot as he is “probably too old”.

“The money is good, they pay well but I don’t think he will ask me,” Walsh said. “I don’t know who they would get. Sharon and Nicole Scherzinger would be good. I was so nervous being on that show as Simon is a big personality and so is Sharon.”

He criticised The Voice for dropping Sir Tom Jones as a judge, calling him a “hero” and “an icon”.

“They shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “Tom is brilliant, he’s been there, he’s done that and he can sing.”

Elsewhere, he spoke about his approach to public relations, stating he once “made up” a story about Irish boyband Boyzone being in a plane crash in Australia to generate headlines.

When the podcast hosts pointed out that Walsh had come across as the “bad guy” in Boyzone’s recent documentary, One for the Road, he answered: “F*** it, I don’t want to be the good guy.”