The self-made millionaire, who began his career as a post-room boy at EMI, discussed his interest to create a new series of primetime shows in the lead up to the next UK general election. The show would not take the same format as the X Factor but would instead provide politicians with a public forum in which to put forward their views on important public topics, such as knife crime and the war in Afghanistan, in front of large audiences who will then vote for or against the opinions that they have heard. Simon Cowell told the BBC he wants the show to create a "bear pit" and, as we have seen from his previous television successes, he would be just the man to do so.

As for the X Factor, Cowell, along with Sir Philip Green, has plans to take the show to the US, undoubtedly hoping to continue the show’s seemingly never-ending success. Cowell, who was named in The Times’ Power 100 list of successful businessmen and women last year, has not always been such a well-known public figure. Ten years ago, despite many business successes surrounding his production company Syco, Cowell was relatively unknown to the public. All of this changed when he was offered the chance to feature as a judge on the hit show Pop Idol. Two years on, Pop Idol had been re-launched and re-branded by Cowell as X Factor, a show that has gained him more of a "celebrity status" than the contestants themselves.

Whatever Simon Cowell’s next business move might be, be it X Factor in the US or X Factor for the likes of Gordon Brown and David Cameron, it will be interesting to see whether his success continues to grow. Surely even Cowell must stop somewhere?

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