Nasty Nigel Slams Kym Marsh on Talent Show Anniversary

Nigel Lythgoe earned the nickname 'Nasty Nigel' for his scathing behaviour and tough critiques as a judge on talent show Popstars in 2001.

He saw himself at the centre of backlash last year when a clip of him ordering  Hear'Say star to '' resurfaced online.

Nigel, now 76, criticised Kym's looks as he quizzed her over her diet and fitness after she made it into the band alongside Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw, Noel Sullivan and Danny Foster.

Yet despite the outrage, Nigel has doubled down and said while he didn't fat-shame Kym personally, his remarks were actually towards 'all of them' in the band.

Speaking on Magic Radio's Popstars at 25: The Story of a Talent Show Revolution, he said: 'I think it's a different time. Funny thing is, it was the record company who said to me "You've got to go in there and gee them up", because that was when they were all in the house living together.

'It was just over  and they all became lazy and just enjoying Christmas which is fair but the record company needed an album out and it was all sort of laid back.'

Nigel continued: 'So I went in their storming and I didn't actually particularly look at Kym at this point it was to all of them. 

'"Christmas is gone the goose is still fat". And Kym I obviously hit a nerve without realising it and it really upset her.'

In the original clip, Kym asked, 'Do you think I'm fat?', to which Nigel replied, 'I think you've put weight on over Christmas, are you exercising, is the diet right?'

Kym replied: 'I've just started it today', prompting Nigel to add, 'You need to lose some weight you're going on show six weeks from now, six weeks.'

Speaking 25 years on, Nigel explained that his strict dancing background has had an impact on his tough approach.

He said: 'But the fact is, I grew up as a dancer a very much different world. My granddaughter was a ballerina in Russia and if they put on a pound they were told to loose it immediately. 

'So that is the background that I grew up in, you really had to keep fit. And singer's are athletes too, they've got to look after their bodies and voices. The tours that they do nowadays are exhausting.'

Nikki repeated: 'But Nigel - surely you can't agree that it's okay today to call a woman fat on television?' 

He said: 'Yeah I don't necessarily agree with it I will be quite frank. I think as long as you are healthy that is good.'

Last year, Myleene reshared the video to her Instagram Stories and said being fat shamed was a 'daily' occurrence, while stylists would remove sizes from clothes to hide 'the shame' of having double digit sizing's. 

She wrote: 'Yes Daily. Stylist often cut the sizes out of some bands outfits to hide the 'shame' of 'double digits'. 

'My Hear'say diaries are FULL of this s***. The boys were also shamed. Remember, TFI Friday had scales on set.'

Kym has been open about her struggles with self-image in the past, saying she became bulimic after she started comparing herself to smaller girls while at stage school when she was younger. 

Nigel previously defended his comments about Kym on the show, saying: '[She's] looking fabulous now, acting brilliantly, and she's made a huge career for herself.' 

Hear'Say formed on ITV show Popstars in 2001 and found success with their number one hit Pure and Simple.

Their first album Popstars was a huge hit but their success quickly dwindled by the time they released their second album Everybody.

They split up in October 2002, less than two years after being put together on Popstars and cited 'abuse from the public' at the time as the primary reason behind the breakup.

Speaking last year, about what pressures she felt as a young person in the spotlight, as they were scared they would become 'fat'. 

She said: 'I mean the scrutiny for a start. My daughter is 17 and if I look at one of my band members Suzie she was 18, so that's one year away. I think if someone put my daughter through that level of scrutiny or pressure...'

Although she admitted that things have got a lot better since then, Myleene went on to add: 'Some of the experiences that we went through we were in no way equipped for it.

'We were just five kids in a room at the end of the day - not unlike these five kids in a room and that's all you have.'

She shared the shocking revelation that her band had tour managers 'clear out our mini bars and food because they thought were trying to control how much we were eating because they thought we were just too fat.'

'Before we walked into a studio our tour manager would get a big bag and clear out our food, treating us like we were children because we couldn't be trusted and we had an image of this perfection, this role to fulfil.'

Recalling another experience, Myleene quipped: 'Somebody drew a circle around my cellulite while I was on holiday...

'On the front of every magazine there was a huge circle and my cellulite, we wouldn't allow that today.'