SIMON Cowell admits he’s “socially inept” and has revealed the unexpected bonus that his TV shows have given him which has helped him through his shyness.
Cowell, 65, said he desperately struggles to make small talk and told how he became so stressed at Joan Collins’s party that he had to leave just half an hour after sitting at the table.
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The BGT judge revealed that becoming recognised as the man behind hit shows like American Idol, The X Factor, and Britain’s Got Talent, had helped him.
He admitted that it made it easier for him to have conversations as people would talk about the programmes and their stars – topics he felt comfortable chatting about.
Speaking on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast, Cowell said: “I am very shy – like I can’t go to a pre-party.
“It’s my worst thing in the world – making small talk with people I don’t know.
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“If we have a common subject I’m pretty good.
“But years ago, if I had to go to a party, particularly if you have to stand up with a drink, with horrible food, and just talk to people you don’t know, it’s torture.
“So once I was known by people it was kind of good because it broke the ice with people you meet, so instantly they know you, you’re talking about something I like, which is the shows or the artists or whatever.
“So it kind of helped me with my shyness.”
Cowell, engaged to Lauren Silverman, with whom he has a son Eric aged 11, added: “But still now Lauren is brilliant in these positions. I’m hopeless.
“Joan Collins had a birthday party, and I’m ‘How do I get out of it? I can’t.’
“And I said to Lauren ‘I’ll go, but we have to time it, because there’ll be a horrible stand-up pre-drinks’. I can’t do that.
“At the same time, Joan is a diva, and if you’re late she’ll kill me, so I’m trying to balance everything.
“I think we’ve timed it well – we didn’t. For 45 minutes I had to talk to people and I was dying inside.
“I was so stressed by the time I got to the table, I left after about 30 minutes, because I just can’t deal with it. Draining.”
Describing it as one of his failures, Cowell admitted: “That is one of them. I am socially inept.”
Simon’s famously blunt feedback, which sometimes crossed the line of being harsh to the contestants, made him a household name in the world of Talent shows.
The TV personality wasn’t afraid to tell the singing hopefuls that they sounded like “garbage,” that they had “no talent” or that their audition was a “complete and utter waste of time” – all of which are direct quotes he had said to the contestants at some point.
He became a fan favourite due to his lovable charm and sharp sense of humour.
Many fans seemed to agree with Simon’s critique of the singers making him beloved and one of the leading talent scouts in the music industry of the past two decades.
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