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Kelly Rowland Relives Horrific Moments While Stranded at Sea

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X-Factor judges Kelly Rowland and Simon Cowell are doing their best to keep their flailing reality TV talent show from sinking. X-Factor USA debuted two seasons ago to less than stellar numbers causing Cowell to eat his words after claiming it would topple American Idol and The Voice.

Ahead of the fall premiere for season three, Rowland found herself stranded out to sea last month and now Cowell’s fodder for gossip after fathering a baby with his friend’s wife. Planned or unplanned, the publicity puts some focus on X-Factor.

According to the UK Telegraph:

“The cynics who cannot see the romance in all of this – and it truly is a love story for our times – dismiss it as a PR ploy to boost dwindling ratings for the new series of The X Factor on both sides of the Atlantic. After all, Cowell has surely seen what a royal baby has done for the monarchy, with the Windsors’ ratings at an all-time high.”

OK, so maybe Rowland isn’t masterminding her own stunt for ratings, but Cowell likely appreciates the unintended effort.

Rowland opened up to People about the frightening experience at the Television Critics Association meeting in Beverly Hills over the weekend.

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘Lord, please don’t let this boat capsize,'” said Rowland of the July 22 incident. ‘Please let us get to shore in one safe, sound piece. I just want to see tomorrow.”‘

The former Destiny’s Child star was on a whale-watching cruise with friends before losing sight of the boat they’d been following. She added:

“[There]…no more shore, no more land, we’re seeing no more of the buoys, no more of the boats passing by – it’s just in the middle of nowhere, so we realized that we’re lost.

“I was like, ‘Please, Lord, give me two bars,'” she remembers after failed attempts to make a cellphone call. “He gave me two bars and we contacted some folks that were on land and they helped us.”

Lucikly Rowland and her friends returned safely after the Coast Guard sent a towboat operator to escort them back to the shores of Provincetown, Mass.

“The waves coming in were like 5 to 10 feet high and the boat was only a 27-foot boat and it felt like forever to get back to shore.”

The new season of The X Factor premieres Sept. 11 on Fox.

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