Simon Cowell explains the tears after crying during

Julie, Simon Cowell’s mother, passed away in July at the age of 89. Recently, the X Factor judge opened up about remembering her while watching a particularly emotional performance by Josh Daniels, who sang Labrinth’s “Jealous.” In an interview with Loose Women’s Ruth Langsford and Jane Moore, Cowell reflected on the moment, saying, “It was pretty close when it all happened, and I think it was the last audition, and I wasn’t really expecting what happened.”

He went on to explain how the performance affected him, sharing, “And of course the lyrics of the song, and it was quite difficult because I thought, ‘God, this is going to be really hard to sit through.’ But then you’ve got to think of [Josh] and it’s his moment, but yes, it was very emotional.”

When asked about his late mother, Cowell expressed how much she had enjoyed the show, saying, “She was a huge fan of the show, she loved the show.”