14 DAY TRIAL // Paula Abdul isn't ready yet to speak about Rachel Crow, the 13-year-old X Factor contestant who got the boot last week after a lot of drama. On Jimmy Kimmel the other night, she walked out when he tried to query her about Rachel, says a new report.
A member of the audience tells the Daily Mail that Paula completely lost her cool when Kimmel kept pressing her for details of Rachel's elimination at the taping.
It would make sense for Paula to be a bit sensitive about the whole subject, especially since she was the one who instructed Nicole on what to do and which act to send home, as we also informed you earlier today.
Admittedly, Paula doesn't like to be asked about that particular incident, one that saw Rachel, 13, burst into tears, collapse to the floor and then wail uncontrollably as news sunk in that she was really going home, leaving the show.
“He was talking about how Paula had told Nicole to let it go to deadlock, had a go at LA Reid then he said a few things to Paula about her groups and next thing she just walked off stage,” the onlooker tells the Mail of what happened at the taping.
“There was something in the air as the atmosphere was so feisty,” adds the unnamed source.
However, it could be that both the onlooker and the Mail misunderstood one of the jokes Paula made.
As the video below will confirm, she did walk off stage during Kimmel's show, but no mention of Rachel was made when she did so – or, at least, it doesn't seem like it in the video.
It appears that Paula feigned being offended when Kimmel said both her acts “deserved to go” and only pretended to walk out on the show to make a point of just how hurt she was by such a comment.
“Paula Abdul has eliminated herself from the competition tonight,” Kimmel said, thus managing to bring her back on the couch, with a smile on her lips.
The Mail, on the other hand, says she “stormed off” and wouldn't come back to the taping until Cowell went after her and talked her into acting like a true pro.
“The 49-year-old judge had joined her fellow X Factor USA judges on the Jimmey Kimmel show and it was only through the coaxing of Simon Cowell that Paula returned to the stage after losing her cool,” says the British tab.
Whether these two were separate incidents, or one was mistaken for the other is still to be determined. What's certain for now is that it was Paula who told Nicole which act to send home on the latest show.