Simon Cowell was terrified he would be hated if he worked in America. The music mogul was concerned viewers would react badly to his 'Mr. Nasty' persona if he agreed to be on the judging panel of 'American Idol' after appearing on the UK version 'Pop Idol', but was eventually persuaded. Nigel Lythgoe - who worked on the show with creator Simon Fuller - said: "We took it to Fox and Rupert Murdoch told his team, 'You want Simon Cowell, he's tough. I want it to stay tough.' 

Nigel Lythgoe adds: "At first Simon didn't want to come to America. We twisted his arm but he was worried they wouldn't like him. Amazing if you're going to be nasty that you still want people to like you." 'American Idol' went on to be one of the biggest successes on US TV but Nigel says they were careful not to let viewers get bored with the star-search talent show. He explained to the Guardian newspaper: "We made sure we only did one season a year - I think that in the UK, once something is successful it's wrung out like a sponge and gets overdone." Photo: Fame Pictures