“What if no one turns up?”: Simon Cowell reveals his hopes and fears for Netflix's talent hunt show Simon Cowell: The Next Act

Simon Cowell is on the lookout for new and fresh talent, and he is bringing it all for the viewers in his latest Netflix talent hunt show, Simon Cowell: The Next Act.

The show focuses on Simon’s journey to finding the next big boy band.

Simon is known for signing and working with bands like One Direction, Westlife and PrettyMuch, among others.

For the show, Simon auditioned more than 1,000 people, as reported by TV Insider. 

Out of these 1,000 contestants, 100 were chosen, of whom 16 young boys were part of the show.

According to Tudum, the selected boys’ ages range from 15 to 19 years.

In an interview with Rolling Stone on December 10, Simon discussed his apprehension. He said:

“At the same time, once we started the process, I was like, 'Oh God, what if no one turns up?' That was a huge factor.  And the real fear was — when we narrowed the numbers down and I was flying them out to the U.S. to work with producers and very well-known vocal coaches and musicians — what if they sound terrible?” 

Record executive talks more about Simon Cowell: The Next Act, Liam Payne and how he wanted to be remembered

 

In an interview with Rolling Stone on December 10, 2025, Simon discussed how he missed working with bands.

Simon stated:

“We were sitting around, me and my team, and we were saying, 'God, we really miss working with bands.' And then there was this element of 'Oh, God, if it was a disaster, there is a strong likelihood that I wouldn’t do this again.' So there was a sense of finality. And of course you want to prove yourself to yourself. Can I still do it again?” 

Simon also reflected on the death of One Direction member Liam Payne.

In episode 3 of Simon Cowell: The Next Act, the show focused on how devastated Cowell was from the news.

Six days after the news, Simon tearfully talked about this in an interview:

“It is hard, you know. When I called his mum and dad, just thinking, 'God, how do you cope with that?'” 

He added:

“You just don’t know how you feel about someone until you lose them, you know? And whoa.”

Cowell addressed the tragedy in his interview with Rolling Stone. 

Cowell remarked on how Payne came to his house and talked about his father. He also recalled how he advised him to find something else that he is passionate about.

He said:

“You ask yourself that question: 'Could I have done anything more?  What would’ve happened to Liam if he hadn’t been in the band?' Having spoken to his mom and dad recently, all they kept telling me was he was so proud of what he had achieved. I wish I could turn back the clock, of course. When I spoke to him that day, I felt really good about him. I thought, 'Wow, you seem in a really good place.'”

Further in the interview, when asked how he wanted to be remembered, he humorously discussed his wellness journey and how he is aging backward. 

Simon said:

“I’d like to be remembered as somebody who’s always worked hard. I do believe that I’ve been nice to everyone I’ve met. I’ve met a lot of people who are nice on camera [but] are absolute monsters off camera. I am the same person on and off camera.” 

Stay tuned for more such updates.