Jedward have hit out at Louis Walsh – while having a roast dinner at The Only Way Is Essex star Gemma Collins’s house – after the music manager described the twins as “vile” during a conversation on Celebrity Big Brother (CBB).
Former X Factor judge Walsh is a contestant in the current series of the revived CBB, and made the comments about the brothers, John and Edward Grimes, during Tuesday night’s episode.
When asked what they were like by Coronation Street actor Colson Smith, Walsh said: “They were vile… I done [sic] five million quid with them, I swear on my mother’s life.”
He added: “They were vile, they were novelty, they were great for the show.”
Walsh mentored Jedward when they competed on X Factor in 2009, and later managed the pair.
Following the broadcast of his remarks, the brothers shared a series of posts on X, calling Walsh “a cold hearted b*****d” and an “absolute weirdo with bad intentions for all”, and accused him of trying “to make us sign our name and life away in dodgy contracts”.
They added: “All future acts should be made aware of what this VILE man is really like.”
Social media users were quick to jump to the twins’ defence – including reality star and TV personality Collins, also known as The GC, who shared footage of herself watching the CBB episode on Instagram.
“Louis, don’t be slagging off my boys,” she said. “They’re not vile, they’re beautiful in every single way.”
She then panned the camera to reveal she was, in fact, watching the show with Jedward themselves.
Further clips showed the friends sitting down for a Tuesday night roast dinner, with the twins letting rip further, saying: “He doesn’t care about people. All he wants is money, money, money.”
Later, another video was shared from The GC’s hot tub: “You never know what’s going to happen,” they said. “We were literally sitting down to have a dinner, which Gemma cooked. We were in a good headspace, everything was calm, we said, ‘what’s on television?’ … We have somebody that was being nasty, talking s**t.”
“They’re not vile otherwise they wouldn’t be in my hot tub,” Collins added.
In another post, she described the brothers as “the sweetest talented polite educated kind boys I’ve ever met”.
Walsh remains in the CBB house, although the live audience could be heard outside when the latest voting was announced last night, booing and chanting: “Get Louis out.”
His fellow former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne – who was described by ITV as “a guest lodger” on the show – and The Real Housewives Of Cheshire star Lauren Simon both left the house.
Sky News has contacted representatives for Walsh for comment.