An excellent interview by Simon Cowell for the New York Times

Simon Cowell interview with the New York Times

An interesting podcast interview from Simon Cowell for the New York Times. Simon starts by talking about his early life in the music industry, including which act he was most upset on missing out on signing.

Moving on to more recent events, Simon talks about his conversations with Britney Spears when she appered on the X Factor USA as a judge. The success of One Direction and his devastation when he heard Liam Payne had died.

Simon also speaks about his family life, his exciting new show Simon Cowell: The Next Act and who his favourite current artist is.

Asked what he would do if given the choice between pressing a red button that would stop the internet and a green button that would keep it going. Without hesitation, he answered, "It would be ‘Stop.’ I'd press the red button."

"I was thinking about this the other night, weirdly. It was kind of like, I liked the time when we didn't have so much choice."

Talking about going to see a movie when it first came out: "So when something came out, like, I don't know, ‘Jaws’ or ‘Star Wars’ or whatever, it was such a big deal. and the fact that we knew it was coming and we had to go somewhere to watch it, it was such a fun, amazing time." He added, "I personally think that people were happier then than now."

Interestingly for someone who appears to always be on the ball he doesn't read newspapers or look online, saying: "I sort of live in a bubble, if I’m being honest with you," he admitted. "I don’t have a phone, and I don’t read anything online. I don’t read newspapers."

Simon explained he never looks at social media and he has "no idea" about the accounts that exist under his name. "I’m really genuinely oblivious, and I do it for a reason: because I’m happier that way.

Watch the interview in full via your usual podcast or here on YouTube

Simon Cowell: The Next Act on Netflix 10th December