Simon Cowell 'turned down Mika'

Rex Features

Simon Cowell reportedly rejected Mika's demos when he was a teenager.

The 'We Are Golden' star mailed several rough copies of his tracks to Cowell in 1996, but the media mogul was apparently unconvinced.

The singer told Heat: "The first time I met him, at 16, he very professionally rejected me... He did say back then, 'You've got a good really good voice - you just need to work on your songs'. He was right, so I went away and worked on my songs."

Mika added: "Last time I saw him was at Madonna's house party after the Oscars. I'd just had a drink with James Bond (Daniel Craig) after almost getting the s**t kicked out of me by Bruce Willis - I'd pushed him out of the way to get to the bar!"