Every time I sat in a chemistry lesson I thought, what am I doing this for? I don't ever want to be in a job that involves a Bunsen burner.'

I do see a big difference in the American work ethic compared to the British work ethic in a lot of artists.

Holding auditions in front of an audience is testing.

My proudest achievement has been the success of the shows and artists I have been involved with, because they were made in Britain.

For the music business, social networking is brilliant. Just when you think it's doom and gloom and you have to spend millions of pounds on marketing and this and that, you have this amazing thing now called fan power. The whole world is linked through a laptop. It's amazing. And it's free. I love it. It's absolutely brilliant.

You know what the secret to weight loss is? Don't eat much.

I've always been petrified of working for a boss who I didn't like but who I was in fear of, because I wanted my salary.