Jules O'Dwyer, who performed with her border collie under the name Jules and Matisse, won the latest series of Cowell's show on Sunday (31May15), but came under fire after she revealed another dog was brought in to complete the daring high-wire stunt in the finale which helped her take the title.

The revelation prompted a slew of complaints to British broadcasting standards officials, and many fans also demanded refunds for their telephone votes, and Cowell has now admitted he was completely in the dark about the doggy body double.

The music mogul insists his producers should have made the dog swap clear for both the viewers and the judges, but he is adamant they did not intend to deceive the audience.

He tells Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, "The moment I found out I literally put my head in my hands. I spoke to a lot of people after, and I did raise my voice. But it was mainly people owning up to it. They felt embarrassed, they felt frustrated, they felt stupid but you've got to man up to this stuff. The producers are absolutely gutted. I was so depressed for the show, for Jules and for the producers themselves, because they are not horrible people. They didn't think how it would appear. I was frustrated because I didn't really know what I was judging until afterwards so I felt like a bit of an idiot... (I was) really p**sed off, really annoyed (but) I could hear in their (the producers') voices, some were in tears, just mad at themselves."

Cowell also confirms O'Dwyer will still perform for Queen Elizabeth II at the 2015 Royal Variety Performance in London in November (15).