Pop Idol supremo Simon Cowell has said that he 'fixed' Pop Idol 2, to let 15-stone Michelle McManus to win.
McManus was backed by Cowell throughout the ITV show - their relationship even being mocked on 'Harry Hill's TV Burp.'
She eventually won the contest, release an album, and scored a number one hit.
But Cowell reportedly told a BBC 'Tabloid Tales' episode he made the Glaswegian win - even though he doesn't see her as a long-term chart star.
He said he chose McManus as he thought she would be a money-spinner more in the mould of his previous successes the Teletubbies and Power Rangers.
'She's not a pop idol in the old fashioned sense, though maybe times are changing,' he commented.
The sharp tongued critic added: 'I thought she should win anyway.'
McManus' album, "The Meaning Of Love", sold just a sixth of previous winner Will Young's first offering "From Now On".
