Simon Cowell locks himself in his dressing room after The X Factor auditions because he is scared of contestants' mums. The talent show's resident evil also reckons he would have been beaten up by now if it wasn't for his security guard. Simon told the Radio Times that hopefuls usually take rejection badly. "Normally, you'll get, 'Thanks for all your support, judges', and the second they're out of earshot they go completely ballistic," he said. "And there's me sometimes locked in my dressing room, knowing there are some very angry family members in the corridor. It's not a great place to be. "I wait until the coast is clear and then I get out of there. Because there's nothing worse than when you've got a mother shouting at you. "I get collared sometimes as if it's my fault. They're never particularly happy at that point. Or you get the contestants themselves, which is very embarrassing. Sometimes they'll lay into you." Referring to The X Factor's security guard, he added: "Tony's there mainly as a deterrent. But I'm absolutely sure that if Tony hadn't been on the road with us, I would have been punched in the mouth." The X Factor returns to ITV1 on Saturday with new judge Dannii Minogue - who Simon described as "a little Rottweiler". Louis Walsh has also been brought back, months after he was dumped as a judge.
