Sharon Osbourne joins comedian Bill Bailey and Britain's Got Talent winners Ashleigh and Pudsey on the judging panel for ITV1's one-off reality show, That Dog Can Dance... What's the show all about? "We've found five talented dogs who'll be performing special routines with their owners in front of a live studio audience. We simply have to decide which one is the best. We'll be having all sorts of fun along the way and Ashleigh and Pudsey will be doing a special performance as well." So do you have much experience training dogs Sharon? "I know exactly how to train dogs. All you need to do is get a piece of carpet and they sh*t on it!" Have you ever tried dancing with your dogs? "Mine dance, they play the piano – all kinds of tricks! It just comes naturally to them! No, of course I’m lying, they do nothing but sh*t and love you! I wish I had the patience to teach them tricks, but I just take the love." How many dogs have you got at the moment? "Sixteen. A lot of them are rescue dogs, a lot of them aren’t. I know it’s not politically correct, I feel that I rescue them from pet shops. I can’t stand to see a dog in a cage, so I just go in and take it – no matter what it is." Do they travel with you? "Two of them travel with me all the time, it’s much easier to take them on planes now. Now you can take them in the cabin, whereas before you had to take them underneath the plane – which I didn’t like. So now a lot more of them will travel." Have your dogs met Pudsey? "No they’re very shy because they know he’s a superstar! But they’re big fans." What will you be looking for in the winning dog? "For me, it’s just the dog. It doesn’t have to do anything. Every dog will get a 10 from me! A dog comes on and that’s it. It’s a done deal." Is it true that one of the dogs on the show is deaf? "Yes there is a deaf doggy. The owner uses sign language - seriously!" So your dogs will all be sitting on the judging panel with you and Bill’s dog and Ashleigh and Pudsey, but they haven’t met yet? "My dogs are actually embarrassed because they bark with an American accent! They don’t want to be picked on by any English dogs!" Do you think judging this will be harder than The X Factor? "Well I think this comes easier to all of us. If your heart is naturally into animals it’s just so easy, because you judge with your heart. But at least I won’t have to say any of those dreadful lines like ‘I think your pitching was off!’" How old were you when you got your first dog? "I was very lucky that my parents loved dogs, so I was born into a house full of them!" Were you pleased to get the call from Simon to do the show? "Yes I was over the moon; at first I thought he was teasing!" Do your dogs get Christmas presents? "Of course they do! They get their own stockings! I’ve spent many Christmas Eves wrapping up bones! It’s when you give one pet a present from the other pet that you start to worry." Does Ozzy complain if the dogs get more presents than he does? "No, he’s actually been on the phone three times this morning asking if Rockstar’s OK! He’s Ozzy’s and he very kindly let me bring him, so Ozzy’s very nervous because he’s a long way away from him. He keeps asking; ‘Is he all right? Does he miss me?’" That Dog Can Dance: Boxing Day, ITV1, 8pm
