Will.i.am defends Cheryl Cole performance

Will.i.am defends Cheryl Cole performance
Will.i.am defends Cheryl Cole performance (Image credit: PA)

Will.i.am has defended Cheryl Cole after the singer was accused of miming on The Voice. The Black Eyed Peas star and coach on the BBC singing show dismissed the reports about the Call My Name singer, who he manages, as nonsense. Speaking at the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards, where he presented a gong for best Solo Artist to his fellow Voice mentor Jessie J, the star said: "She didn't mime. I watched it. I was right there. People say a lot of things and you just have to ignore it." Will.i.am kept schtum on reports that Cheryl, who leapt from a ten-foot platform into the arms of her backing dancers on The Voice, could resurrect her US career with a job as a judge on American Idol. But the music mogul revealed he would like to sign up for the BBC One show, which has been sliding in the ratings, next year, saying: "I've had a blast." He said of the weekend's final: "I'm going to be sad when the show ends. I'm going to miss it." The music star said he wants to stick around for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations - and that the Queen reminds him of his mum. "I'm going to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. I'll watch it on TV," he said. "The Queen is a strong female. When I think of the Queen I think of my mom. We weren't wealthy but she's a strong woman... My mom is the woman in my life." He added: "I love Britain. It has street cred around the world. I love its fashion sensibility, its music and the sunlight. When it's sunny all the traffic comes out all of a sudden."

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Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.