Simon Cowell seemed to hint at tensions between himself and his former American Idol co-star Ryan Seacrest in a new interview.
During an appearance on The New York Times’ podcast The Interview on Saturday, the 66-year-old star suggested that he hadn’t been paying attention to Ryan’s exploits in the 15 years since he ended his stint as a judge on American Idol.
The former X-Factor judge weighed in on Ryan’s success, landing big roles on shows like Wheel of Fortune and American Idol, after the podcast’s hosts quizzed him about what made his former costar “so popular.”
“I don’t know, actually,” Simon admitted, before pointing out, “He was very, very ambitious. And look, I don’t follow his career if I’m being honest with you.”
Simon then doubled down on his opinion, adding, “So I don’t know what he’s done or doing,” clarifying that the pair “rarely talk now.”
“I always knew with Ryan, he was very steely about his career, wanting to be famous. I mean this massive, massive desire about being very famous,” Simon then claimed, before briefly praising his former co-star that Ryan “does work hard.”
Despite his seemingly cool feelings toward Seacrest, a rep for Cowell told the Daily Mail that the pair are longtime friends and denied that there was any feud between them.
The duo’s on-screen relationship began in 2002, when they appeared together on the debut season of American Idol. The series took shape a year earlier, when Simon appeared as a judge on the British series Pop Idol, which was in turn inspired by the competition series Popstars, which began airing in New Zealand in 1999.
Simon was one of the producers who pitched an American version of Pop Idol. After resistance from most of the major television networks, Rupert Murdoch warmed to the offer, reportedly because his daughter, Elisabeth Murdoch, had enjoyed the British series.
After securing the show, Simon was one of the three original judges, along with Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul. Ryan co-hosted with comedian Brian Dunkleman, who left the series after its first season.
The series was a huge success, running through to 2011, but Simon left amid the peak in 2010 after finishing up season nine, while Ryan has remained the host of American Idol ever since.
Although most of the pair’s on-stage tenure was uneventful, the two did have an awkward exchange in 2007, when the music executive appeared to mock Ryan’s alleged sexuality.
According to TMZ, Ryan asked Simon if he had any words of advice for the contestant Melinda Doolittle, who was about to perform while wearing four-inch-tall heels. “You should know, Ryan,” Simon joked back.
“Stay out of my closet,” the present snapped back, only setting up Simon’s next remark, as he shot back, “Come out!” Ryan then ended the tense exchange by adding, “This is about the top 12, not your wishes.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.the-express.com ’
