The X Factor head honcho Simon Cowell was left apologizing on Wednesday night when his show was pulled from the air in a scenario he described as a ”total f up.”

The 53-year-old judge and Executive Producer of the hit FOX talent show was said to be in crisis talks with the network about what to do when Game 3 of the NLCS championship series between the San Fransisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals – postponed because of bad weather — suddenly resumed.

Television executives at the network opted to resume broadcasting Game 3 of the best-of-seven series from Busch Stadium, despite the fact part of the crucial The X Factor episode had already aired on the East Coast.

During the talks about how to handle the programming dilemma, Cowell took to Twitter to express his frustration.

“Have no idea what is happening to the schedule tonight,” he wrote. ”Have heard the whole episode will be shown next Tuesday. Sorry.”

In another Tweet, Cowell said:

It what’s known as a
total f up.

— Simon Cowell (@SimonCowell) October 18, 2012

The full episode — the final Judges’ Homes episode — is now due to air in full on Tuesday, Oct. 23, FOX confirmed to Celebuzz.

An insider told us, “It’s a big issue but sadly, it’s the unpredictability of live sport. What was aired showed Spears and Reid selecting the final four contestants for the Teens and Over 25s categories, but Simon’s choices weren’t revealed because without warning, the show was cut for a rerun of The Mindy Project. FOX was thrown into chaos.” Complicating matters, according to the source, the episode has aired in Canada. “It’s a monumental spoiler,” the insider said.

Cowell was not alone in his frustration, either. One Direction star Harry Styles was another X Factor alum who was left perplexed with the decision. He wrote on Twitter:

X Factor UK doesn’t air in America. X Factor AUS doesn’t air in America. X Factor USA doesn’t even air in America :) — Harry Styles (@harryshoar) October 18, 2012

In a statement, FOX said: “Due to tonight’s rain delay of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, the highly anticipated conclusion of the “Judges’ Homes” round of The X Factor will air in its entirety on Tuesday, Oct. 23 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The competition kicks into high gear on Tuesday, when the judges reveal which four acts in each of the four categories – Teens, Young Adults, Groups and Over 25s – continue and which two acts are eliminated.” The network added that an encore broadcast of last Wednesday night’s episode would air on the West Coast. Watch a super tease of this week’s episodes below.