Simon Cowell has pledged his ongoing support to protege Joe McElderry after the singer came out as gay.
The 19 year old revealed all about his sexuality in a chat with Britain's The Sun, which was published on Saturday (31Jul10).
He told his family and friends the news earlier in the week (begs26Jul10) and went to record bosses at the music mogul's SyCo company to warn them about the upcoming revelations.
And The X Factor winner MCElderry admits Cowell has backed his decision to 'come out'.
He says, "I spoke to Simon direct. He said, 'Hi, it's Simon. You know, I 100 per cent agree with what you are doing. It's fantastic. I am here at the end of the phone if you need any support and we are thrilled for what you're doing'.
"It's great. It would have been a bit of a nightmare had they said they didn't want this to happen, but they've been totally fine."