Cowell: "Pete was my biggest influence"

Simon Cowell has revealed that he used to hang around the recording studio of fellow Pop Idol judge Pete Waterman in order to learn about the music industry.

"[He was] my biggest influence in my early years," Cowell told The Mirror today. "He has the best ear I have ever come across for a brilliant pop record.

"I used to hang around his London studio, just watching him work. I'd tell him: 'I just want to learn from you.'

"Week after week, when I was trying to make it and bringing in songs which I wanted Pete to produce for me, he would shout at me: 'Simon, you have no credibility! Your ideas are crap!'

"I had to accept that he knew more than me. I didn't sulk."

In the interview with the newspaper, Cowell also revealed that he was left gutted after he tried to buy Britney Spears' debut hit 'Baby One More Time' and record it with boyband Five but was pipped to the post by Britney's record label.