Bitchy X Factor judge Louis Walsh has hit out at Britain’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan and branded him ‘a poor man’s Simon Cowell.’

The Irish music manager made the remarks after standing in for Simon at the Birmingham auditions for the next series of BGT.

“He’s a poor man’s Cowell,” Walsh told the Sunday Mirror. “He’s absolutely desperate to be like him, he even acts like him.”

“He knows nothing about music – he’s a journalist. He’s never had a hit in the charts so how can he judge music?

“I honestly can’t believe how he gets away with it.”

An insider also told the newspaper that Louis had loved judging the show and had purposely put through some acts that he knew Simon would hate.

“Louis had a blast,” the source said, “the only problem he has is Piers. After about an hour or so he couldn’t quite understand why he was there. He was actually quite amazed that he’d been on the panel for three years.”