Simon Cowell: 'Niggled by Barlow'

Simon Cowell: 'Niggled by Barlow'
Simon Cowell: 'Niggled by Barlow' (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Simon Cowell was worried Gary Barlow would set up an "entertainment empire" to rival his own, according to a new biography of the X Factor supremo. He also fell out with some of the show's stars, including Matt Cardle and Will Young, after a series of rows. Extracts from Tom Bower's book Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life Of Simon Cowell said he rowed with Pop Idol winner Will and branded him "a fake, snivelling, little drama queen" after the pair fell out when Simon mocked his lisp in a television interview. It also quotes Simon as saying Gary "chased that madly to get three initials after his name" after the Take That frontman was made an OBE. Bower said: "Ever since Barlow has clawed his way back from a disastrous attempt to become a solo star, Cowell was niggled by his conviction that Barlow was bidding to establish a rival entertainment empire and, like Paul McCartney, secure a knighthood." The extracts published in The Sun said Simon offered Dannii Minogue £2 million to return to the hit talent search show but the deal fell apart when she demanded £5 million. It claims he told ITV boss Peter Fincham to "Bring her back to X Factor... everyone will be looking at her t**s".

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.