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Sharon Osbourne backtracks on her claims she sacked assistant following a house fire

Sharon Osbourne attends the Billy Morrison - Aude Somnia Solo Exhibition at Elisabeth Weinstock on September 28, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.  (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
Sharon Osbourne attends the Billy Morrison - Aude Somnia Solo Exhibition at Elisabeth Weinstock on September 28, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images)

Sharon Osbourne has said she didn't sack an assistant following a house fire after originally stating that she had done such a thing in an admission which sparked a backlash.

In an appearance on Would I Lie To You? which aired last month, Osbourne claimed she had fired the unnamed assistant for not finding the situation funny when she had instructed him to rescue paintings from the house.

However, she has now changed her version of the story, as the 67-year-old said on US show The Talk that it was "a joke" and he had actually been given the boot years later.

Read more: Sharon Osbourne defends model selling nude photos for Australian fire relief

She shared: "I told a true story about a fire I had in my house. He went in, he got the paintings out. And then, just to be precocious, I said at the end of this little thing I was doing, 'Oh, and then I fired him.'

elevision personality Carrie Ann Inaba and actress Constance Marie guest co-host on "The Talk," Wednesday, November 21, 2018 on the CBS Television Network. From left, Sheryl Underwood, Carrie Ann Inaba, Sharon Osbourne, actress Constance Marie and Sara Gilbert, shown. (Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images)
Sharon Osbourne discussed the story on US show The Talk. (Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images)

"It was a joke because I was on a comedy show. I fired him about 15 years later."

When she originally told the story on the BBC channel show hosted by Rob Brydon, she said she had told the assistant to go into the burning house to get the family's dogs and paintings out.

Osbourne told the panellists that when the emergency services arrived to provide oxygen for him, she ordered him to go back into the house to get more paintings and gave his oxygen mask to her dog.

Ozzy Osbourne, left, joins his wife Sharon during the "Ozzfest Meets Knotfest" news conference at the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday, May 12, 2016, in Los Angeles. The multi-stage camping festival will be held on Sept. 24-25 at the San Manuel Amphitheater and Festival Grounds in San Bernardino, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Ozzy Osbourne, left, joins his wife Sharon during the "Ozzfest Meets Knotfest" news conference at the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday, May 12, 2016, in Los Angeles. The multi-stage camping festival will be held on Sept. 24-25 at the San Manuel Amphitheater and Festival Grounds in San Bernardino, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

She went on: "After this terrible night, he was not talking to me. Ozzy and I were recounting everything, we were laughing and laughing, and [the assistant] said, 'I don't see what's funny about any of this.' He said, 'I think I'm going to have damaged lungs.'

"I mean, please. So then I just said, 'If you don't think that's funny, do you think this is funny? You're fired.'"

While the audience and other guests and hosts on the show laughed, Osbourne was criticised by some viewers.