Celebrity Big Brother contestant Louis Walsh has ignited a ramped-up war of words with X Factor breakouts Jedward, with the identical twin singers accusing Walsh of forcing them to give one of his PR workers £70,000 ($89,500).
On last night’s Celebrity Big Brother, Walsh branded the singers – who featured on The X Factor during his time as judge and who he used to manage – “vile,” before saying he “got £5 million from them.”
Jedward responded almost immediately via X with a string of weighty accusations including that Walsh had “forced us into an office to pay £70k+ to [sic] from our bank account to one of his own PR workers.”
In a number of tweets last night after the show, Jedward – real names John and Edward Grimes – also accused Walsh of “trying to make us sign our name and life away in dodgy contracts to people he was great friends with.”
They also attacked Walsh’s character, calling him a “cold hearted bastard who didn’t even send us flowers when our mom died.”
This year’s Celebrity Big Brother return for ITV has elicited plenty of talking points, with Walsh involved in many of them.
Last week, he participated in a chat with the now-departed Sharon Osbourne, who accused James Corden of being a “name dropper,” before Walsh replied that Corden “kisses all the right people.” Osbourne and Walsh also criticized Ellen DeGeneres and Anna Wintour.
Walsh is a well-known Irish music manager who was X Factor judge for a decade and managed the likes of Boyzone and Westlife, along with Jedward.
Deadline has reached out to Walsh’s reps for comment.
