Paula Abdul settled sexual harassment lawsuit with fellow reality show judge Nigel Lythgoe ‘for millions’

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

Lythgoe, 75, who rose to fame as ‘Nasty Nigel’ on the judging panel of ITV talent show Popstars and later produced Pop Idol and US spin-off American Idol, denied Ms Abdul’s claims that he forcibly put her in a lift had grabbed her 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, claimed he also attacked her on the couch of his Los Angeles home after a work dinner.

Cheshire-born Lythgoe described the allegations as ‘a terrible slander’.

The Grammy Award-winning Ms. Abdul said, “I am grateful that this chapter has successfully closed and is now something I can put behind me.”

The allegations date back to 2000, but Ms. Abdul said she kept quiet until she filed her claim in California last year “out of fear of speaking out against one of the best-known producers of TV competition shows,” according to court documents.

Paula Abdul has reached a settlement in her sexual assault case against her former colleague 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 that the first sexual assault occurred while she and Lythgoe were filming auditions for American Idol, which launched in 2002.

Ms Abdul claimed that after a day of filming, Lythgoe groped her in the lift of their hotel and ‘began to shove his tongue down her throat’.

Her lawyers filed a “notice of settlement” last night

Los Angeles Superior Court, which must still be approved by a judge. A source close to Lythgoe told the MoS the settlement would be “in the millions”, but neither party would comment on the terms.