Adele needs to work harder, according to Louis Walsh

Adele at the Grammy Awards

The pop manager - who is a judge on the 'The X Factor' UK - thinks the 'Skyfall' singer should be working on a new album rather than tending to her son, who was born last month, so she can
capitalize on her phenomenal worldwide success.

In an interview with the new issue of Q magazine, he said: "If I had someone like Adele, no way would she not be working now. Fine, have a baby, but then get back out there before they forget who you are! She'd be on every other TV show and there'd be another album ready. Work the room! That's my philosophy."

Louis, 60, also thinks he could have helped save Amy Winehouse, who died in July 2011 at the age of just 27 from accidental alcohol poisoning.

Amy's substance abuse and troubled personal life meant she never properly followed up her seminal 2006 album 'Back to Black' and the pop impresario believes he could have helped stop her from self-destructing.

Louis said: "Someone should have told Amy the truth. Drugs don't work unless you're Keith Richards. She was an enormous talent who has made the most important album of the last 20 years. But come on, one album and then you do what you want? No, no, no. If I manage you, you're working so hard you don't have time for drugs. You'll be crying out for sleep. I'm a great believer in old school managers who take charge."

Among the acts Louis has managed to chart success are Westlife, Boyzone, Girls Aloud, JLS and Samantha Mumba.

Louis Walsh filled in for Simon Cowell on “The X Factor”

Louis Walsh, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato and LA Reid in Kansas City Last week (Brian Prahl / Splash News)

Louis Walsh, probably best described as the Irish Simon Cowell, is getting a taste of what it’s like to be Cowell these days as he filled in for the sick mogul on the U.S. X Factor, alongside other judges Britney Spears, Demi Lovato and LA Reid.

Cowell took sick with a bug and recruited his buddy Walsh, who’s a judge on the U.K. X Factor.  He dispatched his private jet to London and flew Walsh straight into Kansas City where auditions were taking place.

“(Simon) greased the wheels with the U.S. bosses, telling them that Louis was the man who knew more about The X Factor than any other judge,” a source said.

Mayoman Walsh seems to have gotten along great with Spears, Cowell’s Hail Mary hire in the hopes of shoring up the show’s second season ratings.

"I loved Britney. She is such a star. She's really bright, really brilliant, she has it totally sussed,” Walsh said.

Irish pal Louis Walsh stands up for 'American Idol' boss Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh

 British talent show impresario Simon Cowell has certainly made his mark on this side of the Atlantic with American Idol -- but not so much his follow up The X-Factor, which debuted here to so-so ratings last year.

Now he’s got a new problem on his hands, a just published warts and all unauthorized biography that portrays him as a self-obsessed, eccentric, plastic surgery loving lothario who can’t get his act together when it comes to opposite sex.

Cowell has at least one defender out there, though – Louis Walsh, the Irish boyband manager and judge on the British X Factor who has been both a friend and foe of Cowell’s for years.

Walsh, 59, quite the entrepreneur in his own right given that he founded two of the biggest boybands in Europe, Westlife and Boyzone, says Simon may have his faults, but overall he’s one of the good guys.

"Simon loves life, fun, cars, girls and he works hard," Walsh told the Sunday World in Dublin. "He is self-made and a worldwide success. And yes he is arrogant, ambitious and enjoys life.

"I can only say good things about him. I've known him for 14 years and he has made so many people's careers and made them millionaires.  He gave me a break and changed my life. I wouldn't be where I am without him.”

The two famously fell out a few years back when Cowell temporarily fired Walsh from The X Factor, but the spat didn’t last long and Walsh was back on the air, where he remains to this day. The X Factor in the U.K. doesn’t quite have the ratings muscle that it displayed in its heyday a couple of years ago, but Walsh has remained steadfast, like Randy Jackson after all the American Idol upheaval.

"I know the real Simon, he's fun, he's hard working, and he has never done anything wrong on anybody,” Walsh added. 

"He is as vain as hell, but he's upfront about it. He looks after himself, but he tells you everything he does, that's the thing about him. I've been in his house and he's just fun. He's really good to his mother and he loves animals."