Simon Cowell Reveals How a Strategic Fib Led to 20 Seasons of America’s Got Talent (Exclusive)

If it hadn’t been for Simon Cowell’s spur-of-the-moment thinking, it’s possible America’s Got Talent wouldn’t be the powerhouse series it is today.

Speaking to PEOPLE in honor of the NBC show’s milestone 20th season, which premiered on May 27, Cowell recalls the series’ humble beginnings and how they’ve managed to transform it over the years.

“It was a very difficult show to sell actually, to be honest with you,” Cowell, 65, admits in this week’s issue of PEOPLE. “Because we made a pilot and the pilot was dreadful, I mean really, really bad. So, it was dead.”

When NBC called Cowell inquiring about the series, he remembers having just “seven minutes of this pilot,” which he describes as “just about watchable.”

“They called me and they said, ‘What’s this new show like?’ And I went, ‘Oh, it’s brilliant.,'” he recalls of his subtle fib.

“And they said, ‘Can we have a look at it?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, come over to the house,’ ” Cowell continues. “They came over and I just showed two minutes or three minutes of this show. And they loved it. They bought it. And that was it.”

He adds: “If they hadn’t made that call or come to my house that day, we wouldn’t having this conversation today because the show, honestly, it was over.”

As it turned out, NBC’s decision to buy AGT ended up being one of their best. After the series premiered in June 2006, it went on to produce 20 seasons in the U.S., dozens of winners (several of whom have headlined Las Vegas shows) and countless Got Talent spinoffs around the world.

For Cowell, it was a dream come true after spending his own childhood watching “much more basic versions of these” talent competition shows in the U.K.

“I loved them,” says Cowell, who rose to fame in the U.S. as a judge on American Idol, which premiered in 2002. “The kind of acts I remember as a kid were those really wacky acts, where it just used to crack me up.”

“Once I’d done Idol and I enjoyed it, I kind of thought, ‘I think I’d probably enjoy a show that has singers along with other acts,’” he says of creating AGT. “It was a light bulb moment … And it evolved into what it is now.”

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Over the years, things have changed — the show added Golden Buzzers, leaned into the power of social media, and most recently launched a more behind-the-scenes feel for season 20 — but the heart of the series has remained the same.

“I’ve seen this sort of evolution over the years of how things have just gotten bigger and better, more creative. And that is a really, really good feeling when you see that,” he says. “We always say it is the best job in the world doing this.”

“Personally, I think the best thing we ever did was to say, ‘Why don’t we have a competition, which is a talent competition, where there are no restrictions?'” Cowell adds. “To have that kind of freedom is brilliant because you’re not restricted by anything and you’re always constantly surprised at what people come up with.”

But that’s not to say Cowell hasn’t personally changed through the years. He and partner Lauren Silverman welcomed son Eric in 2014 and announced their engagement in 2022. Since becoming a dad, Cowell says he’s noticed a shift in his own approach to AGT.

“It got easier since I became a dad, because as Eric got a little bit older… I suddenly started to watch acts through his eyes thinking, ‘Would he like that?'” Cowell shares. “Because you want your kids and their friends to love the show.”

With 20 seasons under his belt, Cowell sees no end in sight — and knows if that day were to come, he’d miss it immensely.

“I do actually believe that every year you can get better because there’s so many people in the world with an extraordinary talent,” he says. “I think the level of talent generally has just got better from when we first started to now.”

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“If I didn’t feel that was the case, then I would just say, ‘Well then, that’s it. We’ve had a great time and thank you very much.’ But you always go after you finish a season, ‘Now I can’t wait to see who’s going to come on [next] season’ … that’s my motivation still, and I’m still really, really enjoying it,” he continues.

“So for the time being, I’ve kind of mapped out my next few years doing this, and I think I’d miss it. I really would, I’m not going to lie,” Cowell adds. “We do have long days at times and you’re tired, but then when I watch the show back and it’s brilliant, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I would feel really awful if I wasn’t doing this.'”

America’s Got Talent airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

Source People.com