Paula Abdul settled sexual harassment lawsuit with fellow actuality present choose Nigel Lythgoe ‘for tens of millions’

American TV star Paula Abdul has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit against fellow reality show judge Nigel Lythgoe ‘for millions’.

Lythgoe, 75, who found fame as ‘Nasty Nigel’ judging ITV talent programme Popstars and later produced Pop Idol and its US spin-off American Idol, denied Ms Abdul’s claims that he forcibly grabbed her in a lift and kissed her.

Ms Abdul, 62, a former singer and dancer who worked with Lythgoe on American Idol and alongside him as a fellow judge on So You Think You Can Dance, alleged he also assaulted her on the couch of his Los Angeles home after a work dinner.

Cheshire-born Lythgoe described the allegations as ‘an appalling smear’.

Grammy-award winning Ms Abdul said: ‘I am grateful that this chapter has successfully come to a close and is now something I can put behind me.’

The allegations date from 2000, but Ms Abdul said she kept silent until filing her claim in California last year ‘due to fear of speaking out against one of the most well-known producers of television competition shows’, court documents said.

Paula Abdul settled her sexual assault case against her former co-worker Nigel Lythgoe, according to TMZ

Ms Abdul with Lythgoe at the Governors Ball during the 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in September 2013

She alleged the first sexual assault occurred while she and Lythgoe were filming auditions for American Idol, which launched in 2002.

Ms Abdul claimed Lythgoe groped her in the elevator of their hotel after a day of filming and ‘began shoving his tongue down her throat’.

Her lawyers last night filed a ‘notice of settlement’ in

Los Angeles Superior Court which must still be approved by a judge. A source close to Lythgoe told the MoS the settlement was ‘in the millions’, but neither side would comment on its terms.