American Idol judge Simon Cowell refuses to let the suicide of Paula Abdul's stalker affect the level of criticism he delivers on the show.

Paula Goodspeed, who had stalked Abdul for almost 17 years and had auditioned for the reality show on three separate occasions, took a suspected drug overdose in her car outside the gates of Abdul's Sherman Oaks, California estate last month.

Despite her "awful" death hitting the judges "like an express train", Cowell is adamant he would not have judged her differently when she auditioned - because it is necessary for viewers to hear his honest opinion.

He says, "I have thought long and hard about this...I think we will continue in the way we have always done. We have tried to have a sense of humour. The show is not an inherently mean show.

"It is an American dream show where the whole purpose is to find somebody who through the process becomes a star. It is helpful showing people the process that, if you're not very good, don't spend years trying to do something you're not very good at doing."

Cowell, who is renowned for his harsh criticisms of contestants, doesn't believe that going easy on Goodspeed would have helped her.