It’s fair to say that Simon Cowell propelled Gareth Gates to stardom after he came in second place in Pop Idol back in 2002, losing out on the top spot to Will Young.
And while Gareth, 40, has nothing but nice things to say about Simon, 64, it’s fair to say he might leave him a little red-faced after letting one of his beauty secrets slip.
Speaking on the My Dirty Laundry podcast, Gareth said he was shocked to discover the one item Simon has in his office in order to boost his confidence.
He said: ‘The first time I went into his office, I walked in and there was a mirror on the wall and it said: “Yes Simon, you are the most beautiful in the land”.
‘I swear this is true. And I was like, “Wait a minute, is that real?” And he replied: “Yes darling, it’s real.”
Gareth Gates has revealed he was shocked after discovering the top secret beauty item Simon Cowell keeps in his office to boost his confidence
Gareth said: ‘The first time I went into his office, I walked in and there was a mirror on the wall and it said: “Yes Simon, you are the most beautiful in the land”. ‘I swear. And I was like, “Wait a minute, is that real?” He was like, “Yes darling, it’s real”‘ (Simon pictured in 2002)
Gareth couldn’t contain his laughter while talking about what he found in Simon’s office while talking on the My Dirty Laundry podcast (pictured)
‘I have no idea if it was a joke gift or not but I can imagine him looking at himself in it every day.’
Talking about his past mentor, Gareth said: ‘I owe a lot to Simon Cowell. You know, I was his sort of boy from the start in Pop Idol.
‘And I was obviously with his label. We got on really, really well. We bump into each other, every now and again, but he’s a great guy. You know, and the annoying thing is about Simon is that he’s always right.’
During the interview, Gareth also revealed he still keeps in touch with his pop-rival Will and that they might be going head-to-head in the charts again.
Will has just released his anthemic pop single Light It Up, from his forthcoming studio album of the same name.
And Gareth said: ‘Actually, I’ve recently signed a new record deal. It’s extremely early days, but at the end of the year I’ll be working on new material and hopefully releasing next year.
‘Will is a great guy. We went through a hell of a lot together. Pop Idol was the first of its kind, well before X Factor.
‘It was a sort of unknown territory. We were both kind of thrown into this thing and we actually only had each other to turn to, really.
And yeah, it was, you know, as a result of that, we became really, really good friends.
‘He’s great, he has a great voice. The best man won, I guess.’
Gareth is about to start his Gareth Gates sings… Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons tour which he produced himself.
He said: ‘These songs I’m doing, you know, they’re so great to sing. I always put Frankie Valli songs in all my sets wherever I’m touring.
‘And you know, the reaction that I get from these songs are great. You know, and so this tour that I’m doing starts on the 29th of September, runs for three weeks in October. We go to all the sort of major cities around the UK.
‘I’m really looking forward to it. To anybody who wants to come and see the show, if you go to www.garethgatessings.com – all the dates and all the tickets are on there.’
Listen to the interview in full on the My Dirty Laundry podcast. Out now. Follow @mydirtylaundrypodcast on Instagram for more updates.
Talking about his past mentor, Gareth said: ‘I owe a lot to Simon Cowell. You know, I was his sort of boy from the start in Pop Idol’ pictured celebrating his 40th this week
Gareth lost out on first place to Will Young back in 2002 but he said; ‘Will is a great guy. We went through a hell of a lot together. Pop Idol was the first of its kind, well before X Factor’
Simon pictured this week looks drastically different to how he looked back them – pictured this week in Dublin
