The minute you start assuming that the audience is very happy to see the same show again, you're dead.

When I think of invention, I always think of America. You're always seeing ads: 'Have you got the next big idea?' There seems to be that spirit in America of inventions and inventors.

My attitude is, if someone’s going to criticize me, tell me to my face.

My proudest achievement has been the success of the shows and artists I have been involved with, because they were made in Britain.

Sometimes when you have a record out, you think you're going to go in at No. 1 but you go in at No. 8. So your second record has to be better. That's how I treat it.

I don't have sophisticated tastes. I have average tastes. If you looked in my collection of DVDs, you'd see 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars.' In the book library, you'd see John Grisham and Sidney Sheldon. And if you look in my fridge, it's, like, children's food - chips, milkshakes, yogurt.

I didn't have any qualifications when I left school - I had three O-levels.

I have always hated celebrities lecturing people on politics. So forgive me. But I am passionate about this country. I am equally passionate about the potential of the people who live here.

I LOVE ONE DIRECTION!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone who complains about invasion of privacy shouldn't work in the entertainment business. You can't have it both ways. It's as simple as that.

The young people working for me are ambitious and hard-working. That work ethic has always been a trait of the British.

I think that by ignoring the show you're ignoring the audience who put you there.

It's not my habit to kiss and tell. I've never done it.

Anyone who goes on 'The X Factor' to make big money will be in for a big shock.

There's no need for me to get married. I live with someone; we're happy; end of story.

I'm going to give all my money away, eventually. I don't believe in all this hand-down stuff. Even if I had kids, I don't think I'd want to give them everything.

I like to know why a video has suddenly gone viral, why a song has broken, why a TV show is suddenly rating out of pattern... I'm pretty good at understanding why things are becoming popular.

When I look at it now, the whole punk thing is sort of comedy in a weird way.

Thank God kids love following an artist. When you get a group who pop, it's the best thing in the world.

I grew up when the whole Motown thing was huge. The charts in those days were dominated by groups more than solo artists at one point.

There was nothing I could - and wanted to - learn in school. It was just a complete waste of my time.

I don't think I can do this anymore.

Holding auditions in front of an audience is testing.

I should get a dog. I would get a rescue dog. I like mutts; I don't care. I would probably get a three-legged dog no one else would want.

If I was gay, why wouldn't I admit it? It wouldn't harm me.

Britain's got talent, enormous talent; that's very obvious.

I got good advice once. Someone said to me: 'Live in your money rather than look at it.'

I don't mind being cast as some kind of a pantomime baddie, but I am very fair in business. I always have been. I pride myself on being fair.

I work out three or four times a week, I have Botox, take tons of vitamins and vitamin infusions - if you believe that these things work, you will feel better.

I break up very well. I am a good breaker-upper.

I turned down many chances to be on TV before 'Pop Idol' because I really wasn't interested in being famous. I didn't need it and didn't want it.

I'd say the most dangerous thing I've ever done is probably bungee jumping in Thailand.

I was never given any hand-outs. I started at the bottom and was very good at finding people who knew more than me and learning from them.

Every time I sat in a chemistry lesson, I thought, 'What am I doing this for? I don't ever want to be in a job that involves a Bunsen burner.'

No one really has any job security anymore, including myself.

I like spaghetti bolognese, I like baked beans on toast. I hate French food. I hate fancy food.

If you only ever heard Lady Gaga, she's the most boring singer in the world.

I've always treated the music business as a business.

You don't go into anything contemplating failure, because if you did, you wouldn't make it.

Of course I have an ego, but you have to have an ego. You have to be incredibly competitive. I can get competitive at times, way too much, and it becomes a little bit obsessive.

Rules equal boredom, and I don't like that.

At 20, you're cocky and you think you can rule the world, and you get it all wrong.

The only people with power today are the audience. And that is increasing with Twitter, Facebook, and everything else. We cater to their likes and dislikes, and you ignore that at your peril.

I suggest we bring some normality back to this country and say if you are carrying a knife, there must be zero tolerance. If it was up to me, everyone caught with a knife would get an automatic ten year sentence.

The object of this competition is not to be mean to the losers but to find a winner. The process makes you mean because you get frustrated.

When you get your first pay cheque, it's the best feeling in the world.

You always want to go to a party where you get an invite.

I still put punctuation in my texts. If it's an 'I', I make sure it's a capital.

I am quite miserable because I'm never satisfied with what I've got. You're always looking for that next high, and that is what I would define as happiness.

I think if you're an unhappy person, you're always going to be an unhappy person. You're probably going to be less unhappy if your business is doing well, if I'm being honest.