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Writer's pictureJust Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell opens up on how therapy helped him overcome stress


Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell has spoken about the stress he endured during years of making shows like X factor and Britain's Got Talent.


Speaking at the Advertising Week Europe event in London, he explained how he saw himself as talentless in the early days and how difficult it was financially.


Simon said "Once I started to make some money, I bought a Porsche, bought a house. By the time I was 28, I was broke and I had to go back and live with my parents".


He began to realise success doesn't come overnight, you had to stick with your plans and move forward.


"What it taught me was that I was rushing. I wanted everything to happen overnight. If you're not born with a talent, you learn, you watch, you listen, and then you learn from your mistakes and your successes."



Britain's Got Talent was a prime example as when presenting it to producers they didn't like it. Simon had to go back to the drawing board and start again, Three years later he had a hit show.


As we know, both shows turned into monumental successes but this brought Simon more problems as he stressed about the ratings.


Simon Cowell

About a year ago Simon decided it was time to see a therapist about his stress problem.


Saying: 'I wish I'd done it 20 years ago, because this is a very stressful business.'


He said: 'Having an outlet once a week where you can just talk in what I call a safe space and just talk about how you're feeling and no-one's judging you... I would say to anybody, just do it.

'It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's like exercising your brain, in the same way you exercise your body.'

'I think it was a very American thing years ago, "I'm seeing my therapist" and as Brits we never quite understood that. 'But, no, these people are really great people and they're trained and their job is to make you work out what you think is a problem and they tell you it's not quite the problem you think it is.'

He joked that his therapy sessions would 'be the best reality show in the world', adding, 'the couple's one in particular, trust me. Everything's about perspective. There's always people who will do better than you and people who may not do as well as you. And you've just got to find your balance, where you feel comfortable.'


He admitted that his obsession with TV ratings for his shows had not helped his well-being. 'I used to be obsessed with the ratings. Now, I don't look at ratings. I just look at what we're making and if I think it's good, that is enough for me.'

He added: 'But I think if you're driven just by numbers, it will actually drive you, seriously, nuts. And it started to drive me nuts.'

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