THERE’S a saying that behind every great man there’s a great woman – and Simon Cowell has honoured his.
And she comes from Huddersfield.
Siobhan Greene is the X-Factor’s executive producer and she joined Simon and Co on stage when they won a National Television Award.
And the music mogul paid tribute to Siobhan, who grew up in the Shelley area, referring to her by a nickname of Shoe.
Cowell said: “You often hear us talking about the people behind the scenes who are working with us and I would like to present this award to someone who has been with me right from the start, along with her husband and she’s a girl called Shoe.
“And this year, I hope this doesn’t sound like an X-Factor sob story because it’s got a happy ending, but she got very, very ill in the middle of last year and she was diagnosed with cancer.
“It totally rocked our world and it was the worst thing.
“She’s got better and she’s recovered, but what’s most impressive of all was that while she was having this terrible treatment she was in the edit suite working away and making my life miserable.”
Then after winning the award, he handed it to the former All Saints High School pupil who has beaten cancer.
After receiving the Best Talent Show trophy, Siobhan said tearfully: “Thank you. It’s brilliant to be alive.”
Before moving to London, Siobhan and her husband, Nigel Hall, lived in this area and worked for Granada TV on shows including Stars in their Eyes and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
