Simon Cowell called out Nicole Scherzinger for fake crying on The X Factor – and viewers loved it.

Former Pussycat Doll Scherzinger appeared to be in tears as her Overs act Kevin Davy White delivered his rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You during Sunday night’s show.

She said White’s performance was “a masterpiece”, but the rest of the judges were less impressed.

As Cowell gave his verdict, he sniped: “Nicole did pretend to cry and she has done well to be fair.”

Many viewers saw the funny side, posting crying with laughter emojis on Twitter.

One person posted: “Did Simon just say “Nicole did pretend to cry and she did a good job” LMAO.”

Others joked that Cowell’s put-down was “savage”.

Two acts will be cut from the ITV show during Sunday’s episode.

There was also a double elimination on Saturday, with Sean and Conor Price and Sam Black shown the door.