Fantasia Barrino And Simon Cowell's Relationship Explained

Cowell doubled down on his initial comments about how good Barrino was when he caught up with ABC News a few years after her triumphant win. The audition process for American Idol is notoriously difficult but for every wannabe without a note in their head, there's someone like Barrino, he reasoned. As the infamously testy Brit explained, "You have a lot of terrible people trying out. And then when one person comes in with what I call the 'X' factor, they don't have to do a lot, but you just know you've seen somebody special."

As far as he was concerned, Barrino was going to be huge no matter what. "She definitely has the potential to be a big recording artist," he predicted at the time. Going even further, Cowell opined, "She's arguably the best contestant we've ever had on any Idol around the world."