I think of stress as the creator of cancer and heart attacks, like a tiny little ball you feed. I believe that one of the reasons I've never got ill is that I'm not stressed.

The object of this competition is not to be mean to the losers but to find a winner. The process makes you mean because you get frustrated.

Holding auditions in front of an audience is testing.

I should get a dog. I would get a rescue dog. I like mutts; I don't care. I would probably get a three-legged dog no one else would want.

No, what I am doing is kind by telling people who are useless, "Do something that you're good at".

The young people working for me are ambitious and hard-working. That work ethic has always been a trait of the British.

I think the best singers in the world, historically, are American. Britain's got its fair share, as well, but some of the greatest singers, ever, whether you're talking about Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey or Aretha Franklin, are from the legacy here.