Simon Cowell's lawyers have said claims about the media mogul's private life made during the collapsed trial of Tulisa Contostavlos were "untrue".

In a video played to the court last week, the personal assistant to former X Factor judge Tulisa, Gareth Varey, had suggested that Simon was gay.

Simon's legal representatives issued a statement which said: "Simon was referred to during the trial without forewarning, resulting in widespread media coverage of untrue claims regarding his private life.

"In 2014 the question of whether someone is or is not gay is antiquated. (As it happens he isn't, though if he were, he would simply have said so).

"However, the issue was the false suggestion made by Mr Varey that Simon - who is renowned for his honesty and candidness - had thus not been truthful in the public arena and this is what we have been obliged to clarify."

Tulisa's trial collapsed yesterday and in a statement outside of the court she claimed she had been a victim of entrapment by Sun reporter Mazher Mahmood.