Secrets of my friend Simon the Superego

He loves chicken pie and mash, does 200 圧力（をかける）-ups a day and loathes Valentine's Day.

From a friend of 20 years, a surprising portrait of Simon Cowell, now Britain's (and America's) highest-paid TV 星／主役にする

By PIERS MORGAN

There are some things I hoped I would never have to say in public. "Jeremy Clarkson's new 調書をとる／予約する is 広大な／多数の／重要な' would be one. And "I'm so glad 刺激（する）s won the 首相の職' would be another (albeit much more ありそうもない).

But this week, I had to 直面する perhaps the most unpalatable fact of all: Simon Cowell is now the biggest 星／主役にする in the world.

Consider the facts: His 最新の 取引，協定 to 裁判官 American Idol in the 明言する／公表するs - the spin-off of our own Pop Idol - is 価値（がある） £60million over the next four years - the biggest 取引，協定 in American TV history. Hardly surprising for a show that attracted a mind-boggling 45 million テレビ視聴者s to its finale, and 62 million phone 投票（する）s - more than the number who 投票（する）d in the last 大統領の 選挙.

And his new を取り引きする ITV to 裁判官 the X Factor, 発表するd this week, is 価値（がある） £20million over the next three years. A British 記録，記録的な／記録する.

All of which is やめる sickening if, like me, you remember Simon Cowell as a penniless pop music hustler trying to flog 記録，記録的な／記録するs that せねばならない have had "CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY' 大（公）使館員d to the label. (Remember Zig & Zag anyone?)

And yet, as someone who 現在／一般に 作品 with Cowell in America, and has been a friend of his for two １０年間s, I have to - through gritted teeth - 収容する／認める that he deserves most of the success, fame and money flooding his way.

There are hundreds of celebrities I could 指名する who are pale 影をつくる／尾行するs of their famous personae when the TV cameras stop rolling, the concert （人が）群がるs have gone home, or the movie 始める，決める has been 取り去る／解体するd. Showbusiness is, after all, a rich 産む／飼育するing ground for insincerity, arrogance, paranoia, ruthlessness, greed and insensitivity.

But Cowell is the same man on and off-審査する. He's smart, charming, 残酷に honest, いつかs breathtakingly rude, and usually very funny.

"Don't take anything too 本気で,' was his motto when he was a lowly 記録，記録的な／記録する company (n)役員／(a)執行力のある in the 早期に Nineties and I was a showbiz columnist on The Sun. And it remains so today. "The moment you take yourself 本気で, you've had it,' he told me last week.

Working as a 裁判官 on America's Got Talent, a show Cowell produces for NBC, gave me a unique 適切な時期 to discover what it's like to work with him at の近くに ４半期/4分の1s.

And I was impressed. He is creative, 強烈な, energetic, and always 押し進めるing to 改善する. He also never seems to sleep. He'd call at 3am to ask: "Do you really think Bobby Badfingers should be in the final?' or email at 5am to say: "Just seen the edit of the last show. You should have gone a bit harder on <_>co-裁判官] David Hasselhoff when he 支援するd that terrible violinist."

That work ethic has paid off spectacularly. I was at the American Idol final at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, and I can only compare it to what I imagine it was like watching the 支持する／優勝者 gladiator in Rome's Coliseum.

Cowell's two co-裁判官s, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson, were 発表するd to the 4,000-strong audience and 迎える／歓迎するd with rapturous 賞賛. Then （機の）カム Cowell, to a cacophony of 元気づけるs, boos, jeers and 乱用. Everyone either loved him or hated him or, in most 事例／患者s, they just loved to hate him.

He was 側面に位置するd by six 護衛s, and marched purposefully to the 行う／開催する／段階. Once there, he turned slowly to the （人が）群がる, flashed those dazzling white gnashers, and waved. They all went 完全に potty.

The message was （疑いを）晴らす: The King was here - let the entertainment 開始する. Then Cowell caught my 注目する，もくろむ and burst out laughing. Even in that moment of spine-tingling excitement, he recognised the absurdity of it all.

At the 危険 of winning the Sycophant 従業員 of the Year award, I honestly don't think the superstardom has changed him at all. "He 扱う／治療するs everyone in the same polite, friendl y way, from the make-up girls to the (n)役員／(a)執行力のある 生産者s,' one 生産／産物 assistant told me, "信用 me, that is very rare in Hollywood."

Cowell says he 相続するd that streak from his father, Eric, who also worked for a 記録，記録的な／記録する company. "The best advice he ever gave me was to remember every 選び出す／独身 person who 作品 for you or with you has an invisible 調印する on their forehead that says: "Make me feel important".

"So if you have a very successful day it is 決定的な to remember who helped you and make them feel just as good as you do."

存在 associated with Cowell in the 明言する／公表するs got me through tricky パスポート 支配（する）／統制する desks, on the best （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs in the hottest restaurants, 解放する／自由な drinks in 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s, tickets to sold-out shows.

Of course, Cowell is careful about his image. He 支払う／賃金s a hefty 月毎の retainer to PR guru Max Clifford. This helps keep most of the "My depraved night with TV's Mr 汚い' headlines out of the papers, which is handy given the large number of 可能性のある kiss-and-tell merchants who have 占領するd the Cowell bed over the past three １０年間s.

I don't think Cowell's too bothered about the girls myself, so long as they say he had the stamina of a mountain ox and the muscle トン of a bodybuilder.

He is 平等に ambivalent about his Mr 汚い tag, explaining to me: "Everyone wants to be famous these days, and they all want to do it the 平易な way. So it is important we have shows such as ours to 最高潮の場面 the ridiculousness of it all. We illustrate how 95 per cent of the public 簡単に don't have any talent and are 完全に useless. Telling them they are hopeless is a good thing. But do I care, either way? No."

Cowell's straight talking is not just 限定するd to singers. We recently dined together at No 11 負かす／撃墜するing Street with the Browns, and Cowell was as fluent, concise and to the point with the 未来 総理大臣 as he is with talentless wannabees on X Factor. We discussed Iraq, education, Africa and the NHS, and there was nothing Cowell didn't have a 会社／堅い 見解（をとる） about.

Mr Brown was impressed. "Simon's a smart guy, isn't he?' he said, as I left. "Very direct and honest."

I carried on drinking that night with Simon and his girlfriend Terri Seymour at the ultra-trendy 50 St James club. It was 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の to watch him exposed to the 広大な／多数の／重要な British public.

Every five minutes someone would come up and ask for a photo, autograph or audition. The constant 侵入占拠 annoyed the hell out of me. But Simon dealt with them all in the same polite, generous way.

"Is it always like this?' I asked. "Yes,' he replied. "But you know something? It's a very small price to 支払う／賃金 for everything this 商売／仕事 has brought me. These are the people who watch my shows, phone in their 投票（する）s, buy the 記録，記録的な／記録するs. I 借りがある everything to them. The day I forget that and start behaving like some diva is the day I will lose everything again."

Simon is not a big drinker, so he 普通は has Coca-Cola or water with a meal. But he can be tempted. I went out for dinner with him the other night and we sank a couple of 瓶／封じ込めるs of Italian Barolo without too much trouble. As for his food, he likes things simple. A plate of spaghetti bolognese at his favourite Cipriani restaurant in London, a Sunday roast, or chicken curry. He once memorably 拒絶するd the lavish New Year's Eve degustation meal at the Sandy 小道／航路 hotel in Barbados, asking the chef to make him chicken pie and mash instead.

"I want my food to be like my life - unfussy,' he told me.

It's impossible to imagine now, but 15 years ago Simon was 完全に broke. He'd bought a lot of 株 in the 記録，記録的な／記録する company he worked for, the 株式市場 went 破産した／（警察が）手入れする, as did his 会社／堅い, and he lost everything - his 職業, his Porsche, his house, and his pride. "It was...erm...grounding,' he told me over lunch. "I was 負かす／撃墜する to the £4 I had in my pocket, which I spent on a cab fare home to my parents. It was a wake-up call. It （機の）カム on the 支援する of a very 人工的な time in Britain where everyone was buying things they couldn't afford and it was always going to 爆発する in our 直面するs.

"I 公約するd then never to borrow money again. If I could afford something, I would 支払う／賃金 cash for it; if I couldn't, I would wait. In an 半端物 way it was a very good thing for me. There was a weird sense of freedom at having 絶対 zilch but still having the energy and 願望（する） to change my life for the better."

It also meant that when success （機の）カム his way again, he was able to 適切に 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる it. "Nobody has given me anything. I have worked hard for every penny I have earned. I have had ideas, put my neck on the 封鎖する, and made most of them work. That is very 満足させるing. I have a 説, "Create the hype, but don't ever believe it."'

Cowell has his faults, of course. He is vain to the point of paranoia. I tried to drag him into some 中世 在庫／株s last week for charity and he was having 非，不，無 of it. His immaculate 外見 is carefully （手先の）技術d, and 伴う／関わるs a daily 政権 of 200 圧力（をかける）-ups, lots of creams, and a packet or two of cigarettes. The 着せる／賦与するs are meticulously chosen (yes, even the high-waist trousers) to 保存する 'the look'. I once published a photo of him at a fancy dress party wearing a ladies' bra, and he was livid about it.

"I don't want people thinking I wear bras!' he 叫び声をあげるd 負かす／撃墜する the phone to Max Clifford. "井戸／弁護士席 don't wear 血まみれの bras, then!' Max 叫び声をあげるd 支援する.

Cowell is also, and I'm sure he'd 収容する／認める this, 傾向がある to 爆発s of 支配（する）／統制する freakery. His co-生産者s often find his constant 覚え書きs and critiques on the さまざまな shows he runs a 需要・要求するing distraction. And he tends to 見解（をとる） tightly drawn-up 予算s as things to be 二塁打d or trebled on a whim, always 捜し出すing to 'up the 賭け金' and 'raise the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業'.

This often 原因（となる）s かなりの 延期する and 大混乱 in 生産／産物 schedules. "Simon's always changing his mind; it's a nightmare,' one American (n)役員／(a)執行力のある told me, albeit with a smile on his 直面する. Everyone knows that this restlessness is what makes him so good at what he does.

He must also be a nightmare to live with. I remember c alling his Beverly Hills mansion one morning trying to see him, and Terri answering.

"He's got 支援する-to-支援する 会合s all day long,' she said. "It's so bad, even I can't get to see him. In fact, I'm going to have to 調書をとる／予約する a formal 任命 for 4pm just to make sure I can."

Terri's a smart, beautiful woman who enjoys a 広大な／多数の／重要な life with Cowell - but she knows the 得点する／非難する／２０. He doesn't want to get married, or have kids, and never makes any secret of it.

I asked him recently if he thought he was good at 関係s, and he replied: "井戸／弁護士席, ーに関して／ーの点でs of a 基準 wife-and-kids 関係, probably not. But I never make 誤った 約束s.

"And ーに関して／ーの点でs of 存在 fun to be around, I think I am probably やめる good. I am not 従来の. I don't do 持つ／拘留するing 手渡すs and cuddling up in 前線 of the TV. I am やめる 冷淡な like that. I find things like Valentine's Day ridiculous, 存在 軍隊d to be romantic on a 確かな day. I despise the whole commerciality of it. If Terri needs a car, I buy her a car. I don't wait for birthdays or Christmas or anything like that. I don't see the point."

They have a fiery time together. Terri was seen berating Cowell loudly and 怒って at Heathrow recently after 飛行機で行くing 支援する to newspaper headlines 示唆するing he had been having a fling with 21-year-old model Jasmine Lennard.

But he 主張するs: "Terri has got used to me. We have 列／漕ぐ／騒動s, and there have been a few packing-the-スーツケース-and-leaving moments. But she has a 広大な／多数の／重要な sense of humour and I always find a way of making her laugh.

"普通は by the time we get to the underwear, she's laughing. I don't think the padlocks have ever gone on. Terri has a much shorter temper than me, and she is more touchy-feely romantic than me, which irritates her." There is endless 憶測 about their 関係 but they always seem very happy together whenever I am with them.

As for the money, I wouldn't say Cowell is greedy because he is incredibly generous with friends and family. I don't think I have ever been out with him when he hasn't 主張するd on 支払う／賃金ing the 法案 for everyone in the group. Or when he hasn't にわか雨d waiters with £50 tips.

He has garages 十分な of supercars both in London and LA - 含むing Aston ツバメs, Bentleys and Ferraris. And he owns three homes in Hollywood, a 郊外住宅 in Spain and a lovely townhouse in London.

He readily 譲歩するs: "Money brings you 安全 and choice. You can make 決定／判定勝ち（する）s in a different way if you have a lot of money."

But にもかかわらず all the cash and success, he remains a loyal friend to those who helped him along his way.

His British 経営者／支配人, the former 無線で通信する One DJ Peter Powell (who 代表するs me, too), threw his 年次の staff Christmas party on Monday, and didn't 推定する／予想する Cowell to turn up because it was the X Factor 包む party the same night.

But at 11pm, the doors flew 支援する and there he was, having traipsed all the way from Soho to Chiswick to say thanks to the guy who helped him land his new ITV 取引，協定.

I sat with him in a corner of the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, with Ant and Dec. We are all 予定 to 成し遂げる together on Britain's Got Talent next summer. And, while jubilant at his incredible £20million 契約, he was also restless.

"I'm happy, of course I am,' he said. "But all my life I have 反応するd to moments like this by 説: "権利, Simon, that's done, now, what's next?"

"I don't like 残り／休憩（する）ing on my laurels or wallowing in self-congratulation. I just want to get 支援する out there and find the next big thing."

I laughed. "Yes, but come on, Simon, you've just become the highest-paid 星／主役にする in British television history and you're already the highest-paid 星／主役にする in American TV history. A small part of you must be bursting with pride."

He smiled, a long, slow, 審議する／熟考する smile, and said: "Piers, you're 権利...it's 血まみれの GREAT!'

As is his ego. I once asked him: "If you were going to criticise yourself, what would you say?'

Cowell looked puzzled, before replying: "I wouldn't. I'm perfect."

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