Simon Cowell Recalls Critical Moment That Saved ‘America’s Got Talent’

Season 20 of “America’s Got Talent” has begun, and Simon Cowell is remembering how close they came to not having a show at all. Most people are aware that initially, Cowell was working on bringing “Britain’s Got Talent” to ITV. However, planned host Paul O’Grady had a dispute with ITV and left the station. All of a sudden, production was suspended.

So, he shifted his focus to getting “AGT” off the ground, telling a small lie to help expedite the process. While this could have been disastrous, the show’s success has proven that Cowell’s quick thinking was the right decision.

Simon Cowell Says ‘America’s Got Talent’ Almost Didn’t Happen: ‘It Was Dead’

“It was a very difficult show to sell actually, to be honest with you,” Cowell told People. “Because we made a pilot and the pilot was dreadful, I mean really, really bad. So, it was dead.”

He made a similar statement on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.” “It was about seven minutes, which was okay. And then I got a phone call, thank god, from NBC saying ‘what’s this new show like?'” he recalled. “I went, ‘Amazing, I’ve got a highlights reel.’ And I showed them seven minutes, and they went, ‘Oh yeah, we want it.’ And they bought it, and I’m like, ‘Thank god.’ Otherwise, like I said in that clip, we were screwed.”

Clarkson had remarked that “this industry is so hard to get a show off, to get a movie out, to get an album out.” After he told the story, she voiced her belief that “it’s important for people in this industry, and fans — like everybody — to hear that. Because everybody thinks things hit right away. And you don’t see the whole process of leading up to that, and how many things don’t come to fruition.”

“And the fact that — how successful it is now? That’s so funny to me that people didn’t believe in it,” she continued.

Cowell Reveals If He’s Ready to Say Goodbye to ‘AGT’ After 20 Years

Cowell adored talent competitions as a kid. Bringing that talent to a broader audience is a dream come true for him. “The kind of acts I remember as a kid were those really wacky acts, where it just used to crack me up.”

Even after 20 years with the show, he still can’t imagine it ending. “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 told People. “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.'”