(BANG) -Paula Abdul is still friends with Simon Cowell despite the fact that he fired her from 'The X Factor' USA judging panel.

The 'Straight Up' singer's friendship with the talent show boss has been in the public eye since working together on 'American Idol'.

However the 50-year-old performer insists that they are still amicable after he traded both her and Nicole Scherzinger in for Britney Spears and Demi Lovato.

She said: ''Believe it or not, Simon and I are friends. It's a warped kind of thing.''

Although she was surprised that the 52-year-old music mogul didn't renew her contract in January, she says the past six months have given her new perspective on the matter.

She told Celebuzz: ''He was stuck between a rock and a hard place when he opened up his mouth. He thought change and a bold and a big departure were needed for what was going on.''

Meanwhile, Paula is interested in how well the new panel, which includes last season's L.A Reid, do without her.

She continued: ''I'm looking forward to seeing how they do. When you have a long career such as Britney's, she knows what she's doing. I hope she has fun. Same thing with Demi.''

She added: ''What's the best advice I can give them? Don't take mine, obviously.''

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