Simon Cowell, who plans to quit his role as American Idol judge when the ninth season ends next week, said on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Thursday that he had promised himself he would leave the show before he was forced out, cited declining ratings and praised former judge Paula Abdul for her "great instincts".
"It was fun and then you get to a point and for whatever reason, two years ago, I remember sitting in the auditions one day, and I thought, 'I think this is about as far as we can go'," Cowell said. "And I've always promised myself I'd leave before I was forced to go.
"You go on automatic pilot, and there were too many times I was sitting there bored," the 50-year-old said "I can’t hide it when I’m bored. And I thought, the audience deserves more than to tune in, and I’m bored.”
In 2002, Cowell, a British music mogul, helped launch the singing contest series in the United States based on the hit show Pop Idol in the United Kingdom. Local versions of American Idol now air around the world. The two-part finale of the current ninth season, which features finalists Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze, will air on May 25 and 26.
Cowell was always known as the "meanest" judge, often making disparaging comments about a contestant's appearance or demeanor. None the less, most audiences touted his opinion and he usually made the final and longest-lasting comments about would-be "Idols".
He has produced and judged similar talent competition shows, such as The X-Factor, which launch the career of pop singer Leona Lewis, and Britain's Got Talent, which discovered Susan Boyle, who later also became a Web senstation.
Abdul, a choreographer and pop singer, record producer Randy Jackson and Cowell were the original American Idol judges. Songwriter and producer Kara DioGuardi was brought in as a fourth judge in 2009. Abdul left the show and talk show host Ellen Degeneres replaced her in January, when the ninth season began.
The ratings for American Idol have more than tripled since the series began but have declined slowly during the past few years. Peak ratings were recorded in about 2006, or the fifth season.
"I'd be lying if I said that I like numbers when they go down," Cowell said on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "I just don't like it."
Abdul, he said, "had her own reason for doing what she did" and added that he has kept in touch with her.
"She's got great instincts. So for whatever reason she decided not to go back, she'll come back on top. I'm absolutely convinced of that," Cowell said.
He also said he regretted some of his mean comments to the contestants throughout the years, saying that he was not always told about their "back story" of why they decided to audition for the show.
"There were many, many times when I've watched the show back, because you don't hear the back story, you don't really know what's going on outside the room. You hear the story about 'The cat died minutes ago and I'm singing this song for my cat' - but I don't know that. And when I watch it back and I'm being vile to them, it's like, 'God, I wish I hadn't said that."
In a surprise move, Cowell also opened up to Winfrey about his personal life, saying he was surprised his girlfriend Mezhgan Hussainy, a make-up artist he had met on the set on American Idol, had choses him, adding he was "selfish, quite weird, and I need time on my own to think and then I work all night long."