Simon Cowell: 'I'm not nasty'

Simon Cowell has said that he does not consider himself to be a nasty person.

The X Factor boss made the comments after he was interviewed by children on the day of his appointment as the new patron of Children's Hospices UK, BBC Newsbeat reports.

Cowell said: "I think one of them asked if I wore Y-fronts or boxers or something. My favourite question was at the end - 'Why are you evil?'.

"And the answer, 'It's more fun than being nice'. I've never honestly considered myself to be nasty. Whatever people think of me genuinely is sort of irrelevant. Judging a talent show is a job, this is the real world."

He added of his new appointment: "[I wanted to give] a little bit back. Let's be honest, I've got a lot out of what I've done basically from support from the public.

"They've given me an awful lot. I have a great life, I enjoy my jobs but everything that's happened to me has happened through public support."