Simon Cowell tells Oprah of depression

Alistair Foster11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Simon Cowell admitted suffering from bouts of depression and losing all his money in his thirties in a revealing interview with Oprah Winfrey on US TV.


Before he had the X Factor: Simon Cowell

The music mogul gave a farewell interview as he prepared to leave American Idol, the US version of The X Factor, after nine series.

In the broadcast, aired last night, he confessed to having made some "horrific" errors in his life as well as experiencing dark moods.

He was shown photographs of his younger self with longer hair and a moustache.


Tea and tears: Cowell and Winfrey

He said: "I get very, very down, pretty much depression. (But) what I always say is, You're taking yourself too seriously, so stop it'. At the same time, you should never put a painted smile on. When you're feeling down, you're feeling down."

Cowell, 50, who also has his own record label and created the TV shows Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, said he felt drained by his work.

"You just become aware that a lot of people depend on you, rely on you, or you're not giving people the time you should be giving them. It's almost like a guilt thing, and that does drain me," he said.

He also recalled a time 20 years ago when he lost his job and had to move back with his parents.
He said: "I made some horrific mistakes. I believed my own ego, believed my own hype, and lots of times it came crashing down."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in