Simon Cowell's son Eric thought he had discovered One Direction
The music mogul's son believed he had stumbled across the next megastar group...and he wasn't completely wrong, but his timing was a little off.
What did you miss?
Simon Cowell says his son Eric thought he had discovered One Direction - and even tried to get him to sign the "unknown" group.
The music mogul's son looks set to be a chip off the old block as he apparently loves to bring his dad new music he has found and thinks would make a hit.
But while he clearly has similar taste to the X Factor head judge and can spot a great tune, Eric had no idea that his dad was actually responsible for One Direction's fame.
What, how, and why?
Simon Cowell is behind some of the biggest acts in pop music, turning many a wannabe star's career to gold.
The X Factor star is hoping for another hit with his new boy band search, Simon Needs You, and told This Morning how his 10-year-old son Eric looked ready to follow in his footsteps as a music manager.
However, Eric had no idea that a potential hot new band he had "discovered" were actually put together by his own dad four years before he was born.
Cowell told This Morning hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary: "(Eric's) always trying to find me new records. He comes running in one day and says, 'Dad, you've got to listen to this,' and he plays me a One Direction record.
"I started laughing and he said, 'why are you laughing?' I said, 'well I know this band'. He said, 'no you don't' and I said, 'yes I do!'"
One Direction were put together by Cowell on The X Factor back in 2010 and under his guidance they went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
Cowell said Eric's reaction proved their songs still sound good today and added: "If we got them back together and put on their concert now, they would sell out stadiums all over the world. I don't think it's going to happen, but I'm just saying, if they did."
Asked if he had any regrets about One Direction, Cowell admitted: "I wish I'd owned the name. You know the ABBA thing (the hologram tour)? I'd do that and I wouldn't have to ask anyone."
He continued: "Some of my best memories of my career were around that time, it was just exciting and special. The fans were the ones who were really making it work all over the world and being part of that was thrilling."
What did Simon Cowell say about his new boy band search?
Although Cowell's UK X Factor shows have been on hiatus since 2019, he is now back on the hunt for a new boy band with a viral audition campaign called Simon Needs You - and while it is not currently part of a TV series, it is being filmed for a documentary.
Asked what had tempted him back in to look for a new group, Cowell said: "I keep thinking and waiting when is the next big new UK boyband going to come along.
"It is the most exciting thing I've ever done, when it works it's brilliant, but very few of them form themselves."
He said that the auditions are completely open and that they had been seeing around double the number of singers each day as they had done on The X Factor, saying: "It was like sending out a party invitation and not having a clue who was going to turn up."
Cowell added: "This isn't a format as such. I have no idea when this is going to end, until we find a band this is it."
Talking about the star search, he explained: "You've got to find The One and this did happen with one particular boy. I could tell from the energy around, this boy is something special - seriously, seriously good."
This Morning airs on ITV1 at 10am on weekdays.
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