(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Simon Cowell never takes himself too seriously, as his biggest failures have come when hes believed his own hype.

The music mogul has garnered worldwide fame thanks to his work on televised singing competitions such as American Idol and The X Factor. He has also built up a sterling reputation in the business as someone who is able to spot successful acts, although his path to success wasnt always easy. In the 80s Simon had to move back in with his parents after falling into debt, and the experience was one which deeply affected him.

I genuinely on an hourly basis want to teach myself that this is what can happen when you're successful is that you start to believe your own hype, he explained.

Then you start living in this bubble, which is your world, and you start to believe that that's the only world that exists. Which is why most successful people screw it up for themselves normally within two, three, five, ten years. Because they stop listening. The biggest failures I've had were at a time when I believed my own hype.

Simon famously persuaded British actors Robson Green and Jerome Flynn to sign a recording contract, after they sang together on a UK TV show. Their rendition of Unchained Melody was phenomenally successful, but Simon has revealed it took a long time for him to convince the duo of their talents.

It took me seven months to persuade these two to sign a recording contract with me, he told American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. But I drove them so mad that I actually got a solicitor's letter from one of them saying I had to stop harassing his client.

But the reason I kept doing it was is that a) I knew I could persuade them to do it and b) I knew it would be successful. (C) Cover Media