GettyThe toughest talent show judge of them all, Simon Cowell, must have a phone book filled with the numbers of celebrities.
However, if any of them fancy giving him a bell, they’ll discover they can’t get through, as his mobile phone has been turned off for 10 months!
Cowell admitted his phone was so distracting, it’d become irritating and so, he decided to switch it off.
GettyMaking the confession to MailOnline, Cowell admitted he made the decision for the sake of his happiness and mental health, explaining:
I literally have not been on my phone for ten months. The difference it made was that I became more aware of the people around me and way more focused.
The thing I get irritated with is when you have a meeting everyone’s on their phone – and I was probably in that place too. You can’t concentrate.
It has been so good for my mental health. It’s a very strange experience but it really is good for you and it has absolutely made me happier.
Unfortunately, we can’t all turn our phones off for several months like Cowell, but spending less time on them can only be a good thing.
GettyDuring the same interview, Cowell opened up about the future of television, revealing his four-year-old son, Eric, is helping him think of ideas on how to boost audience numbers.
Limiting the amount of time Eric spends on his iPad, Cowell instead encourages the child to sit with him and watch television shows.
He said:
When you talk to a lot TV people they always talk about this 18-34 demographic. I’m actually more interested in bringing in the very, very young viewers, like Eric’s age, because if you get them watching television, they will hopefully keep watching it. He is not on his iPad much at all.
That’s what we need to do to ensure the future of television programmes, just like I read proper, proper books with Eric, and I try to show him newspapers too.
I went back recently and looked at the figures on everything from around 2004. There was so much money out there, every single show was 12 million, or 14 million, now it’s far less.
I like to watch television on an actual television rather than a computer. And, I think for TV to work you have to watch television with friends and family. I watch Britain’s Got Talent with Eric and it’s a more fun show to watch with other people, that’s what needs to happen.
After striking his first deal with the BBC earlier this year – selling the rights to contest The Greatest Dancer – Cowell also admitted he’s considering an offer from the corporation to buy Britain’s Got Talent.
All 12 series of the show have aired on ITV since 2007. If it does move to the BBC it’ll be interesting to see if any significant changes are made.
The final of Britain’s Got Talent will be shown live on ITV tonight at 7.30pm.
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