“If I said to most of the people who auditioned, ‘Good job, awesome, well done,’ it would have made me actually look and feel ridiculous. It's quite obvious most of the people who turned up for this audition were hopeless.”

“I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it.”

“All we're doing is telling people who don't have a chance in hell that they don't have a chance in hell.”

“If you've got a big mouth and you're controversial, you're going to get attention.”

“Why shouldn't you honestly show what it's like to go through the audition process? It can be brutal. If they have the talent, we'll help them. But if you don't like criticism, then don't even think about trying this business.”

“I remember somebody saying to me once, a boss, ‘You’ll make a great promotions man but you'll never be any good at signing talent' and I think that kind of stuck in my mind. That's why when I give these kids criticism, always in the back of my mind is, ‘If you’re any good you're going to bounce back.'”

“As the show has progressed, I think they've understood that I'm very passionate about the right person winning this competition.”

“Remember these words: Whoever wins this competition will have one of the fastest-selling records of all time.”

“I am out those doors to have a cigarette so quick you wouldn't believe. And I have been smoking in my dressing room, actually - but they don't know that.”

“We're trying to show what show business is really like - illogical. Sexist. No matter how big you are, you're going to be criticized.”

“I've worked in this manner for so many years. I don't think anything is particularly extreme. God, if I was really being honest with some of these people, I think I'd probably be hounded around the country.”

“I'm not going to lie to these people just to make them feel good because that's patronizing. And it's patronizing to the people watching this show.”

“My attitude is, if someone's going to criticize me, tell me to my face. I find Paula patronizing. It's as simple as that. Paula is more damaging than I am to these contestants because a lot of people just shouldn't be singing for a living.”

“I met someone the other night who's 28 years old, and he hasn't worked a day since he left college because he's pursuing a dream he'll never, ever realize. He thinks he's a great singer. Actually, he's crap. But nobody has said to him, ‘Why have you been wasting your time for eight years?’”

“It has been a total blast being over here. I've had a hilarious time hanging out in L.A.”

“My advice would be if you want to pursue a career in the music business, don't.”

“Did you really believe you could become the American Idol? Well, then, you're deaf.”

“The object of this competition is not to be mean to the losers but to find a winner. The process makes you mean because you get frustrated. Kids turn up unrehearsed, wearing the wrong clothes, singing out of tune and you can either say, ‘Good job,’ and patronize them or tell them the truth, and sometimes the truth is perceived as mean.”

“It's ironic, when you work in this section of the music industry, before the show, people say, ‘Oh, anyone could be a pop star. You’ve got the machines in the studio, it doesn't take talent.' Yes it does. And then when you show the reality of it, people say, ‘Oh, you’re mean.' Whatever you do, you can't win.”

“I am poor, misunderstood Simon. I'm really the nice one, and no one gets it yet, but they will.”