Pop star wannabes couldn't believe their hopeful ears after Simon Cowell had cruelly dashed their dreams of becoming a singer. Labelled Mr Nasty he became renowned for speaking his mind and telling the bleeding obvious truth. After a few series of Pop Idol, Simon came up with the completely different, revolutionary idea of the X Factor The show has discovered talents such as, Same Difference, Journey South and Eton Road (oh alright, and Leona Lewis). Ahh to be British. He then decided that finding talents only this side of the Atlantic wasn't enough and soon became infamous in America judging on Simon Fuller's American Idol where they discovered Kelly Clarkson, but overlooked Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson. He is currently working as a judge on American X Factor and has stated that he will not be judging the 2011 UK version. Absolutely raking it in - he admitted he recently paid £21.5 million in taxes.