Simon Cowell has admitted that he was a bundle of nerves when he brought his Got Talent show to American audiences.
Cowell, famed for his screen confidence, revealed that he had no idea how audiences would react to his talent search show, given that they'd only known him as the mean no nonsense judge on American Idol.
Cowell, speaking before the launch of the 18th season of the hit NBC series, confessed that his first day on AGT was reminiscent to attending school for the first time.
Cowell said: "I remember actually it was here (in Pasadena) and I hadn't worked over here for a while. Of course, I'd produced the show and then I remember standing to go into the audience and I remember thinking, what if nobody clapped?
"Literally that this could be very awkward. So it felt a little bit like being the new kid at school and then the day was just amazing. It was just one of my favourite days. "
Cowell remains on edge to this day, despite the NBC series repeatedly scoring the largest audience numbers for a network entertainment series for a number of years.
But the 63-year-old media mogul feels that his success is down to the talent search rather than the all star lineup.
Smiling about doing so well for almost 20 years, he added: "It's always for me about finding those little gems. I always say doing this job, it's like, you know, are mining for diamonds because it's hard to find bona fide superstars.
"I know on all these shows, everyone says, you're going to be a star, you're going to be a star. It's very, very, very, very few who really, really do make it.
"So you hope that you've spotted that person on your show. That's what you pray for. And a few times this year, I think genuinely we found some amazing people. And if we don't, we have no show. That's the way it goes."
Last year Cowell reflected on his own school experience.
Cowell felt in primary school that education was not his forte, but was a smart entrepreneur earning decent sums doing odd jobs for neighbours.
Cowell admitted of primary school: "I literally wanted to work.
"Because when I was growing up from the age of seven or eight I would mow people's lawns or wash people's cars. Everytime I had time off. I loved making money.
"In those days you could wander round the neighbourhood and knock on someone's door and ask to mow lawns or wash cars.
"My mum said this to me once when we used to go on our annual holidays: 'We are going to pay for the holiday, you are going to earn your spending money.' That was it."
AGT airs on NBC.
