'Simon Cowell is a very strange man who thinks he's God' says Lord Alan Sugar

Home Top

The salary you need to earn to afford a house in America's major cities revealed: San Francisco homeowners need the deepest pockets while Cleveland is crowned the new most affordable
Outrage as black woman is 'forced to spend eight days in a psych ward because cops would not believe the BMW she was driving belonged to her'
Da Vinci Code clue to bizarre tapestry theft: Stolen panel tells tale of Rosslyn Chapel which Dan Brown links to Holy Grail
'He should never have a badge or gun again': Tennis star James Blake calls for NYPD officer filmed tackling him to the ground to be fired
EXCLUSIVE: Mother of hygienist at center of deadly love triangle says her daughter is 'not the jealous type' and has nothing to do with the death of her ex-boyfriend's glamorous new dentist girlfriend
Mom, 24, charged with felony neglect after her barefoot children aged 4 and 6 are found eating dirt and dry noodles in a CAVE under Kansas City
Staggering treasure trove of paintings discovered inside home of one of America's greatest modern artists who became a recluse 25 years ago after slamming Scorcese film based on his own life
Way too close for comfort: San Francisco landlord is renting out SIX BUNKS in one small room for $550 a month per person as property prices soar
London, New York, Tokyo and Shanghai among the cities housing one BILLION people that will be 'submerged underwater should we burn all the planet's fossil fuels'
Emmy-winning producer wanted by police for 'stabbing his roommate with a knife over Oscars joke' once starred in film playing a landlord who kills his tenant
Hervé Léger breathes new life into the bodycon dress with bold prints and fun fringing - as brand celebrates its 30th anniversary at New York Fashion Week
War of the close-ups! After stunning portrait of Helen Mirren at 70, how Brits beat the American stars by NOT choosing the knife
So where does YOUR school rank? Top 20 US colleges rated according to the attractiveness of their students
Body found on murder suspect's farm 'is American tourist who went missing in Spain'
EXCLUSIVE: Son of wealthy couple who vanished a month ago told a friend they were 'missing' a day BEFORE he claimed his uncle told them they could not be found
Good Samaritans lift car off man, 69, pinned underneath tire after a hit-and-run accident
Horrifying moment a man, 62, is left in a pool of his own blood and with a severed ear after 'woman ordered her two pit bulls to attack him after argument'
Soldier who disappeared during routine parachute training exercise found dead in woods 10 hours later
Sierra wildfire destroys homes, threatens 6,000 California residences
Anti-monarchy, anti-austerity and a defender of Putin, ISIS and Palestinian terrorists: The extraordinary socialist views of Britain's VERY radical new Labour Party leader
Hardline leftwinger Jeremy Corbyn elected leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party and celebrates with a rousing rendition of socialist anthem 'The Red Flag' in a pub
Presidential hopeful Donald Trump mocked online after being duped into reposting an image of UK Labour Party's new Socialist leader
The price of convenience: Horrific images lay bare the devastating murderous effects litter left on beaches has on sealife
'I am ecstatic now to learn that he has turned his life around': Police officer snaps photo one year later with man who tried to stab him

The Apprentice star has opened-up about his television career in new book
Blasts Simon Cowell as 'very strange man' who thinks he's 'God Almighty'
Also takes aim at BBC, comic Harry Hill and Comic Relief's Richard Curtis
Insists he came within seconds of walking out of reality show until sidekick Nick Hewer stepped in

Published: 03:42 EST, 12 September 2015 | Updated: 05:01 EST, 12 September 2015

469

View
comments

Lord Sugar (pictured) blasted the music mogul in his latest book, in which TV funnyman Harry Hill, Comic Relief chief Richard Curtis and BBC boss Jane Lush are all in The Apprentice star's sights

Lord Sugar has taken fire at Simon Cowell, saying the X Factor boss is 'a very strange man' who 'thinks he is Gold Almighty'.

The loud-mouth technology tycoon blasted the music mogul in his latest book, in which TV funnyman Harry Hill, Comic Relief chief Richard Curtis and BBC boss Jane Lush are all in The Apprentice star's sights.

But it was Cowell - known himself for being particularly outspoken - who caught the main brunt of the millionaire Amstrad founder's tongue lashing.

In an extract from Lord Sugar's latest offering, Unscripted: My Ten Years on Telly - serialised in the Mirror, he reflected on his first encounter with TV's Mr Nasty during Comic Relief Does The Apprentice in 2006.

'I felt he deliberately avoided me; almost as if he didn't want to acknowledge my importance there at the time,' the book claims.

'He may have said a quick hello, but he was pretty cold towards me.

'We all know now, of course, that Simon believes he is God Almighty and it has to be All About Simon, so I'm guessing that the leopard's spots were already forming back then.'

Continuing his line of personal attacks against Cowell, 55, the 68-year-old harked back to a June 2009 lunch meeting between the pair, when they sat down together shortly after he'd been made Enterprise Champion in the House of Lords.

He said Cowell - who is worth around £300million - failed to acknowledge the appointment, not mentioning it until his own chauffeur tilted his cap to the newly announced peer as the two parted ways.

Sugar admitted he was taken aback by Simon's apparent disinterest, and branded him 'a very strange man' who was 'kind of embarrassed' at having to offer his congratulations.

The music producer is not the only famous face to be slammed by the self-made billionaire, revealed earlier this year as being Britain's 101st richest person.

Sugar admitted he was taken aback by Simon Cowell (left) , and branded him 'a very strange man'. Harry Hill (right) also bears the brunt of Lord Sugar's renowned acid tongue, calling him 'an annoying sod' for constantly mocking The Apprentice on his TV Burp show

Harry Hill also bears the brunt of Lord Sugar's renowned acid tongue, calling him 'an annoying sod' for constantly mocking The Apprentice on his TV Burp show.

After being left repeatedly irked by the slapstick comic's jibes, Lord Sugar eventually blocked ITV from using clips from the series.

The show came to an end in 2012 when Hill decided to take his career in a new direction, launching a reality TV themed musical in London's West End.

However, it was panned by critics and quickly pulled from the stage - a fact not lost on Sugar.

Sugar claims he was 'down the pecking order' on the original list of successful entrepreneurs wanted by then BBC boss Jane Lush (left) to front the programme - something he claims she'll now deny. He says the Beeb were much more keen on hiring fashion mogul Sir Philip Green (right)

Referring to such, he penned: 'Yeah, right, Harry. Okay, I got it – you wanted to go on to better things like I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical at the theatre. Yeah, that was a great success, wasn't it? Hmmm, never mind.'

The businessman has been a television regular since first appearing on The Apprentice in 2005, the eleventh series of which runs this autumn.

However, the former Tottenham Hotspur chairman came within seconds of walking out on the BBC following a fued with producers.

The hotheaded tycoon was forced to forego a family event to film an episode.

Lord Sugar said he came close to walking out on The Apprentice, telling a producer to 'stick the TV programme where the sun doesn't shine'. It was only the influence of close friend and on-screen sidekick Nick Hewer (right) that kept him on the show

However, a catalogue of on set delays led to him losing the plot with production team leader Dan Adamson.

He was then accused of 'spoiling everything' by show boss Peter Moore, at which point he told him to 'stick the TV programme where the sun doesn't shine'.

It was only the influence of close friend and on-screen sidekick Nick Hewer that kept him on the show.

Sugar also claims he was 'down the pecking order' on the original list of successful entrepreneurs wanted by then BBC boss Jane Lush to front the programme - something he claims she'll now deny.

He says the Beeb were much more keen on hiring fashion mogul Sir Philip Green, with easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou also in the frame.

Elsewhere in the book Sugar reflects on a run-in with Comic Relief chief Richard Curtis and his broadcaster wife, Emma Freud.

He says he was left raging when, during the 2009 Comic Relief edition of The Apprentice, Freud interfered with the firing process, telling the boys' team that they should have won.

'I told them I felt it was outrageous what they did, and that I would find it very difficult to ever again participate in Comic Relief,' he seethed.