Simon Cowell has confessed that he "loves" Gary Barlow again as the pair put their decade-long feud behind them.
The 62-year-old also revealed that his break from our screens will only be a short one ahead of the start date for his new show Walk The Line.
The competition had been touted as Simon's big TV comeback, but he has since announced the Take That star, 50, is stepping onto the judging panel in his place.
Simon was speaking to The Mirror on the red carpet of the Together For Short Lives Ball on Tuesday evening.
When asked who reached out the olive branch first between himself and Gary, Simon jokingly said: "I've known Gary for 30 years, I'm mad at him when he is on other shows.
"Now he's on my show and I love him."
The music mogul and singer-songwriter have enjoyed a notoriously strained relationship since 2011 when Gary replaced Simon as a judge on the X Factor as he was launching the show in the US.
Gary was said to be seething by comments in Tom Bower’s biography of Simon titled Sweet Revenge, which was written with the mogul’s blessing. In it, Gary's performances on the show were described as "wooden".
The book also reported that Simon wasn't best impressed by the decision to award the singer with an OBE.
The Never Forget singer will be joined on the Walk The Line panel by Craig David, while Maya Jama is set to take on hosting duties.
It has also been rumoured that comedian Dawn French will join the judges on the show that will see aspiring singers compete for a £500,000 prize.
If the contestants opt to fight on, they will stand a chance of winning an even bigger cash prize the following show.
Simon will continue as an executive producer on the new show, which appears to suit him just fine.
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"It's just this one, just for now," he admitted when questioned about his break from being in front of the camera.
He continued: "Sometimes I just like to produce the shows. I just took everything into account and realised this was when I needed to step back.
"I actually enjoy producing rather than being in front of the camera."
It was reported last month that he took a step back from the demands of the show as he was scaling back his workload to spend more time with his family.
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