Britain’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell opened up about his life on the How to Fail podcast, where he described him as ‘socially inept’ and said he struggles in some situations

TV personality Simon Cowell has spoken about struggling in certain situations. He discussed some of his experiences whilst he was a guest on a podcast and at one point recalled having to leave a showbiz party earlier than expected.

Simon, 65, revealed that he considers himself “socially inept” on the latest episode of the How To Fail podcast. He told host Elizabeth Day that he’s “very shy” and shared that he particularly finds small talk with strangers to be challenging.

Discussing finding it difficult to socialise at times, he said: “I am very shy. Like I can’t go to a pre-party. It’s my worst thing in the world making small talk with people I don’t know. If we have a common subject, [then] I’m pretty good.”

He said that it’s been “torture” in some circumstances though. He shared: “Years ago if I had to go to a party, particularly where you have to stand up, with a drink, with horrible food, and just talk to people you don’t know, it’s torture.”

Simon added that he’s found such social situations easier to deal with now that he’s well-known. He suggested that his career gives people something to talk about with him, like discussing his shows Britain’s Got Talent and the X Factor.

He explained on the podcast: “Once I was known by people, it was kind of good because it broke the ice with people you meet.” Simon said: “Instantly they know you. You’re talking about something I like, which is the shows or the artists, or whatever, so it kind of helped me with my shyness.”

Simon Cowell (left) opened up to Elizabeth Day (right) about being ‘socially inept’ on the latest episode of her podcast How to Fail(Image: How To Fail with Elizabeth Day/Youtube)

Simon praised his fiancée Lauren Silverman as being “brilliant in these positions,” before adding: “I’m hopeless”. He then recalled once socialising at a party held for actor Joan Collins, with him saying that he found it “draining”.

He said on the episode, released today: “[She] had a birthday party and I’m like ‘how do I get out of it?’ and I said to Lauren ‘I’ll go but we have to time it’ … cause there’ll be a horrible, like I said, stand up pre-drinks. I can’t do that.”

Simon teased that he was concerned that Joan wouldn’t be impressed if he arrived late, so he hoped for “balance”. He said: “At the same time, y’know, Joan is a diva and if you’re late, she’ll kill me – so I’m trying to balance everything.”

He recalled once having to leave a birthday party organised for Joan Collins after feeling ‘drained’ by socialising with other guests(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Simon said that at the time he thought himself and Lauren had “timed it well,” but then revealed: “We didn’t.” He told podcast host Elizabeth that he ended up talking to people for 45 minutes being the meal itself and was “dying inside”.

He said: “For 45 minutes I had to talk to people and I was dying inside. I was so stressed by the time that I got to the table, I left after about 30 minutes because I just can’t deal with it.” Simon then commented that he found it “draining”.