‘SIMON'S rude, cutting and dismissive'

Ant and Dec don’t hold back on their views of Simon Cowell as the pair recall their time working with the music mogul

- SELINA MAYCOCK

Love him or not, there is no denying that Simon Cowell is one of Britain’s biggest TV personalities. But this year, Simon, 60, was forced to pull out of the Britain’s Got Talent live semi-final shows after breaking his back following a fall from his electric bike. Simon was replaced by Ashley Banjo, who sits on the panel alongside fellow judges Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams. Now, hosts Ant and Dec have revealed what they really think of the music mogul in their autobiography Once Upon a Tyne, and why they look set to finish work early for the first time in 19 years...

IT’S A NO FROM US

Even before Simon developed talent shows like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, he attempted to work with Ant and Dec on the theme tune for SM:tv . Simon previously recalled, ‘A lot of people were calling me about them, saying how much they were gonna be stars… so I thought it’s time for me to try to get in the Ant and Dec business.’