‘The first time I saw them, I said to Louis ‘I’m not interested,’ says Simon Cowell on Westlife

The 64-year-old X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent judge was speaking on 98FM’S Big Breakfast Show.

The record executive told of his new documentary, following his quest to find the next biggest boyband, recalling his first encounter with his X-Factor colleague Louis Walsh’s new group at the time, Westlife.

“The first time I saw them, I said to Louis, ‘I’m not interested, I think you gotta change some of the people’,” he recalled.

“The second time I saw them, which was about four months later, within 30 seconds I turned around to them and I said ‘I don’t need to hear anymore, the lawyers are gonna call you tomorrow, we’re offering you a deal.”

He added that you “don’t always get it right”, but fortunately, his track record is that he’s “got it right more times than he got it wrong”.

“Honestly, the only way you could do this is do what I’m doing, go out on the road and pray enough people turn up,” he said.

He added that his desire to seek out the next big boyband as part of a documentary came from watching the Formula 1 focused Netflix show Drive to Survive.

He said he is looking for an ambitious group that “have a purpose”, adding that he feels there is a “significant gap in the market now” and that it is best to start a solo career by first being in a band.

On why X-Factor is not on TV at the moment, he said the show had become “bigger than its purpose”.

“The purpose was always to find undiscovered talent, and then I just found the process a bit boring, and I thought we’ll either bring it back or we’ll bring back another version of it,” he revealed.

When asked if he had seen Louis Walsh talking about him on Celebrity Big Brother, Simon said he had and after he called him and “actually just burst out laughing”.

“I mean it’s kind of like look, you book Louis and Sharon, you know, you know what to expect and they are what they are.

“You know we’ll always, always be friends for life and I think Louis will probably come to the auditions when I’m in Dublin. In fact, if he’s not, I will actually go out and find him and drag him into one of the rooms,” he said.

On how much money it would take Simon to appear on a show like Celebrity Big Brother, he said he wouldn’t unless it was a serious amount of money, adding: “I couldn’t think of anything worse.”