Amanda Holden has said Simon Cowell has finally dropped his 'Mr soft act' on Britain's Got Talent and has returned to his straight-talking self.
The TV personality, 55, opened up on what viewers can expect to see on this year's BGT as it made a triumphant return to television screens last week.
She said: 'Simon is back. He's been Mr Soft in recent years, and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that KSI is so honest on the other end of the panel.
'He's not honest in a bad way, just very to the point, and he doesn't sugar coat anything. I think Simon's just gone, "actually, do you know what? Whatever you're saying, I agree with that as well. And I don't know why I just didn't say that in the beginning".
'I'm glad to see that Simon is no longer being soft serve ice-cream, although it was nice for a year or so!'
Amanda added: 'It feels very loose and very chaotic this year! And I think having KSI there, who's very succinct in his answers and doesn't hold back, has really helped the show.
Amanda Holden, 55, has said Simon Cowell, 66, has finally dropped his 'Mr soft act' on Britain's Got Talent and returned to his straight-talking self.
The TV personality opened up on what viewers can expect to see on this year's BGT as it made a triumphant return to television screens last week.
'We've got the old Simon back, and his one liners are better than ever and I'm loving that!
Simon revealed viewers will be able to get closer to the action than ever before, as he opened up about what fans can expect from the new series.
Discussing his plans to lift the lid on the ITV favourite, he said: 'Fans can expect lots of surprises. We've tried to make it different this year.
He continued: 'The intention is to open up as much of the background of the show as possible so that the viewer can see everything, what goes on behind the scenes, what it's like to be a contestant, what it's like to work on the show.
'So it's almost like we've opened up a lot more to let people see how the show's made. We're letting people behind the Wizard of Oz's curtain, you could say.'
When asked whether fans will see a more personal side to the judging panel, he added: 'A bit, yeah! You can expect to see things you've never seen from us.
'But I think it's more aimed at the contestants, the crew, the people who work on the show because it is an army and I think people are interested at home personally about things like how we set up an act between auditions; the stuff that we see in theatre.
'I think it's important to kind of show all of that; have it a bit rough around edges. We always say we're a circus coming town well now you're going see all chaos takes bring alive.'
BGT's Anthony McPartlin, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell, KSI and Declan Donnelly returned to screens last week
It comes as the Britain's Got Talent judges gave their verdict on Stacey Solomon after her debut on the panel of the ITV talent competition.
The former X Factor contestant, who rose to fame in 2009, will appear alongside Amanda, Alesha Dixon and YouTube star KSI for an upcoming episode.
Simon will go missing from the panel for one episode, as Amanda takes on the role of head judge on the ITV series.
And it will see Stacey, 36, who is the host of Sort Your Life Out, a Loose Women panellist and star of her own reality series Stacey & Joe, take a seat on the panel.
Luckily for Stacey, the show's judges and hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly alike admitted they were thrilled to have her on board, gushing over her as 'warm, funny and down to earth'.
Asked what it was like to have Stacey join the series, co-star Alesha, 47, said: ‘Stacey was adorable. She’s so sweet, very natural, and I liked the way she spoke to contestants because she’s always coming from a good place.
‘She’s a good person, and she cares. If there was something she didn’t like or didn’t get, she would say, but she’d do it in that Stacey charm that she has.
‘She knows how it feels to be on stage and audition, so she had that empathy for them. I thought she did a great job!’
Britain's Got Talent returns Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.