Simon Cowell Adopted a Persona for ‘American Idol’ and ‘Learned the Character,’ According to Fox Exec
Simon Cowell gained fame with his reputation as the brutally honest — and sometimes downright mean — judge on American Idol. However, that wasn’t who Cowell really was, according to former Fox executive Mike Darnell. In an interview last year, Darnell revealed that Cowell’s “mean judge” personality was all part of a “character” created specifically for American Idol. Here’s more on Cowell’s time on Idol and his persona, plus what he’s been up to since leaving the show.
How long was Simon Cowell on ‘American Idol’?
Cowell, who grew up in an upper-class family in England, worked in the record industry for years. He was a talent scout and producer, signing artists and groups like Westlife, Sinitta, Jerome Flynn, and more. So, Cowell knew what to look for when he became a judge on Pop Idol in the U.K. in 2001. After a few years of success on the show, Cowell came to the U.S. to judge the American version of the show, American Idol.
Cowell stuck with fellow original judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul for eight seasons, at which point Abdul left the show. Cowell stayed for one more season before leaving American Idol himself. He had been simultaneously judging on The X Factor in the U.K. and left Idol to start an American version of that competition show.
Cowell was loved and hated in his nine seasons on American Idol. He wasn’t afraid to tell contestants what he really thought of them, which was refreshing and funny at times. However, his criticisms were sometimes too harsh. Cowell even went beyond contestants’ singing voices to criticize their appearances, telling one hopeful that they looked like a creature from a jungle (per Digital Spy). But apparently, it was all an act.
A former Fox exec said Simon Cowell ‘learned the character’ of a mean judge for ‘American Idol’
In a 2022 interview with Deadline, Darnell, who oversaw Fox’s reality TV programs during Idol’s early years, revealed that he wanted to play up Cowell’s frankness as a judge. He noticed that Cowell gave honest criticism to contestants on Pop Idol, so they turned that up several notches on American Idol.
“I knew we had to get Simon Cowell, as he was the star of the show but we needed something different in the U.S. — the mean judge, the frank judge. In all the other shows before him, everyone was polite and nice, and I knew that was going to be thing,” Darnell said.
Cowell was “willing to do anything,” so he “learned the character” of the mean judge on American Idol. However, Darnell insisted that Cowell wasn’t mean like that off-camera. And while Cowell took that persona to other competition shows, he is a “much softer version now,” according to Darnell.
What Cowell has been up to since leaving ‘Idol’
After American Idol, Cowell created and served as a panelist on The X Factor U.S. from 2011 to 2013. It only lasted three seasons, as the show never garnered nearly as much attention as Idol. He worked on Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor U.K. for the next few years. Then, Cowell returned to American TV to launch the Spanish singing competition La Banda, which lasted two seasons.
Cowell had also been an executive producer on America’s Got Talent for years. However, it was until 2015 when he joined AGT as a judge, and he’s been there ever since. The NBC competition just finished its first All-Stars season, where Cowell reunited with American Idol Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert in the finale.
American Idol fans can watch season 21, with judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie, on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
