Simon Cowell has opened up as to the reason behind Little Mix's shock split from his Syco record label last week.
Just days after Simon confirmed that Little Mix left the label following a series of 'rows,' he's claimed Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock were ultimately unhappy with the release of their latest single Woman Like Me.
Speaking to The Sun's Dan Wootton, Simon explained: "The only reason I got annoyed was that it’s easy to paint this picture of Syco as this dark, awful place where all we’re trying to do is rip artists off and make them unhappy...At least I can tell you what really happened."
So what did happen, eh?
"It was just embarrassing," he said, "but, funnily enough, I was more annoyed, again, not about me, but about the fact people who had worked so hard in my company were being misrepresented.
"Why do artists think they’re more important than staff members? They’re not. They’re the same.
"The irony was the record they were arguing about, which is Woman Like Me, they didn’t want to record. This was one of those ironic times that we were having a hit and nobody was happy."
WATCH: Little Mix chat all things LM5 on heat Radio
This all comes after Simon's spokesperson revealed behind the scenes conflict was to blame for the end of Little Mix's seven-year relationship with their label. Speaking to The Sun, they said: "Syco Music will no longer work with Modest Management and therefore any artists signed to that management company.
"We do, of course, wish all artists affected by this decision every future success. Consequently, LM5, the forthcoming Little Mix album A&R’d and released on Syco Music, is to be serviced by RCA at the request of Syco and Simon Cowell."