If I had to say who is the number-one most powerful figure is in reality TV, it's very easy. It is the general public. They're the only people who have power now.

It simply works. You do it twice a year. Who cares? And it balances my smoking and drinking.

My dad said to me, 'Work hard and be patient.' It was the best advice he ever gave me. You have to put the hours in.

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. Kids turn up unrehearsed, wearing the wrong clothes, singing out of tune and you can either say, "Good job" and patronize them or tell them the truth, and sometimes the truth is perceived as mean.

I think that by ignoring the show you're ignoring the audience who put you there.

If I go into a relationship with an artist, which at most is going to last five years, we have a 100-page contract covering every eventuality. Whereas with marriage you go into it with no contract, with laws that date back hundreds of years, and I don't think that's right.

It's not our intention to be mean. That's just within us.