Cowell Loses $20,000 Bet: LA Reid Wins X-Factor Winner Bet With Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell has lost a $20,000 bet to his X-Factor colleague L.A. Reid after betting that Carly Rose Sonenclar would win the show's finale.
It has been reported that the X-Factor mogul was so confident that Sonenclar would win the reality TV singing competition that he bet Reid a massive $20,000. Reid, however, disagreed and put his $20,000 on country singer Tate Stevens.
The bet was in fact made between the pair at the beginning of the season, according to the New York Daily News.
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The two became so competitive that they agreed that should either of them have a winning contestant on their teams then the other judge would have to pay out to the other $20,000, according to TMZ.
Although coming into the final, Sonenclar was the show favorite, Tate Stevens managed to steal the X-Factor crown, meaning L.A. Reid won the bet, and forcing Cowell to make the huge payout.
Cowell was noticeably shocked that Tate won the competition, but indeed, he was not the only one; Tate himself has said that the fact he had won the show was very "surreal."
He told Rolling Stone, "Everyone put in the time and grinded it out every day. So it was relief, like, 'Oh my gosh, it's over.' It's hard to put into words right now. It's still very surreal. It's overwhelming. It's still very, yeah, like, this is so cool. I just remember looking around and thinking, 'Oh my gosh. It's me. I did it.' Dreams do come true."
At 37 years old Tate is older than most reality TV singing show winners that have come out of shows like the X-Factor, American Idol and The Voice. However, that will not be much consolation for Cowell, who is now $20,000 out of pocket. Although the million of dollars Cowell made from the latest season of the X-Factor will surely give him some comfort.
