Simon Cowell backs Tulisa Contostavlos over sex tape

Simon Cowell says he never considered removing Tulisa Contostavlos from the X Factor after a sex tape of the singer appeared online.

He told Newsbeat that doing that would have allowed "every sleazebag in the country to wreck somebody's career, when she didn't do something wrong".

The 52-year-old said he was "absolutely appalled" that someone had leaked the tape.

Earlier this week, Tulisa apologised for the video and said she was "heartbroken" and "devastated" that it had appeared online.