He is the music mogul and mastermind of hit TV talent show Britain's Got Talent, but it appears Simon Cowell plays by his own rules when deciding when he should turn up for shows.
Simon, 62, has been criticised by his fellow judges for turning up late for BGT auditions and even members of the audience have slow clapped him as they waited for his arrival.
Over the years, Simon has come up with some incredible excuses for being late which has infuriated fellow judges including Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon.
And he even got on the wrong side of BGT presenters Ant and Dec over his bathtime antics.
In a previous astonishingly frank outburst, Amanda ripped into her friend by claiming the judges are left exhausted because Cowell turns up hours late every day.
She said: "I have to take a deep breath each year before we go into it because we work extraordinarily long hours, mainly because of Simon.
"If he started at 10am like the rest of us, rather than one or two o’clock in the afternoon, then we’d all finish by 8pm. But we don’t, we all finish at around midnight."
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But what excuses has Simon come up with in the past for being late? He hasn't used the excuse that his dog ate his car keys yet but there are still some extraordinary reasons.
He was late because he was having a bath
The music mogul said he was late for a BGT audition back in 2012 because he was having a bath.
Simon's bathtime landed him in hot water with Ant and Dec – after a wallow in the tub made him two late for Britain’s Got Talent auditions.
The Geordie duo, who co-host the hit ITV talent contest, were fuming at being kept hanging around.
Ant and Dec even urged producers in Cardiff to start without him.
David and Alesha were also left unimpressed by Cowell’s poor timekeeping – especially when he lamely admitted he had been soaking in his bath watching cartoons.
When Simon eventually turned up at the Millennium Centre, Ant and Dec wrote on Twitter : “Simon Cowell is in the building (apparently) only two hours late. Boring.”
The audience had also got restless with one fed-up fan, Joe, posting online: “What a tiring day it was.”
A show insider said at the time: “Simon is known for not being that punctual, but he went too far this time.
“He kept all of production, the judges and the audience waiting for hours.
“He may have been working late, but the fact that he still found time for a bath before turning up late was too much.
“If he does it again in London we really will start without him because it costs money keeping the cameras rolling and all of production waiting around.”
Late as he had been using tanning booth
Simon Cowell was allegedly an hour late for Britain's Got Talent once again in 2016 - because he'd been busy using a tanning booth.
The audience were left waiting when the auditions didn't get underway on time in London.
It meant that thousands could do nothing but sit on their hands, including fellow judges Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon.
When it became clear that Simon was the hold up, a member of the team apparently apologised and explained where he was.
"We've had to delay the show because Simon is stuck in the tanning booth," a crew member said, according to The Daily Star.
But it appeared that honestly wasn't the best policy, with the crowd choosing to boo rather than laugh at the announcement.
Another source added: “Some of the audience were visibly p****d off by the news and started to boo and slow handclap.”
Eventually Simon did make it to the venue, where he was met with cheers by an excited crowd looking to get things started.
Over the years Simon hasn't made much of a secret about liking a tan.
As the boss of BGT Simon probably won't get getting a slap on the wrist for being late.
However, Simon would have to work on his punctuality if he were to take a job elsewhere.
He revealed in the past how he'd have been an 'amazing host' on Top Gear had the opportunity arose.
