Simon Cowell has admitted that he still cannot watch the first Pop Idol final because Gareth Gates lost. Speaking on ITV’s The Talent Show, the former Pop Idol judge said that his first impressions of eventual winner Will Young were that he was “obnoxious” and “full of himself”. Those impressions have not changed in the intervening ten years.
Cowell said on The Talent Show: "I thought, 'this will be interesting - you don't like me, I don't like you' ... and nothing's changed particularly."
The entertainment show guru added that the shock result which saw Will Young win made him feel "sick".
"I still to this day can't watch the final back because I was really, really disappointed. I really liked Gareth and wanted him to win,” he said.
The new five-part series of The Talent Show, which includes contributions from Dannii Minogue, Piers Morgan, Tulisa Contostavlos and Pete Waterman, starts on UTV and Saturday on UTV at 8.30pm.
