Mariah Carey approached Simon Cowell about being a judge on The X Factor.

While the singer has now taken up a role on his former show American Idol, Simon has revealed she was first interested in being a member of this year's new look panel on his talent program. However, the 52-year-old music mogul didn't want her on the series because he didn't think she could be nasty enough to the pop hopefuls.

"Mariah called me about X Factor and I met with her but my main concern was that she might have found it harder on The X Factor than on Idol. Idol is a more gentle show and Mariah is not someone who wants to say no to people," he told In Touch.

Judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul left The X Factor after its' debut season in America and were replaced by Britney Spears and Demi Lovato for the new series. They are joined by Simon and L.A. Reid.