Clay Aiken has recalled how Simon Cowell branded him “ugly” on American Idol.
Clay Aiken’s appearance was mocked by Simon Cowell
The 47-year-old singer was runner-up on the second season of the talent show and he has reflected on the criticism he faced during his stint in the competition, with the outspoken head judge questioning if he had the right image to be a pop star.
He told Insider TV: “I think there was an interesting quandary about whether or not America was going to vote for the best singers or are they going to vote for the people who look like pop stars.
“[Simon] said I was ugly. Go look it up. It’s in there. You can watch the footage.”
But Clay – who came second to Ruben Studdard – insisted Simon was much more warm and friendly when the cameras weren’t rolling.
He said: “We’d get to see [Simon] after someone got cut. He’d come back and give a hug and say goodbye.
“[The judges] were all always very warm. [Simon] was very supportive of people.”
And the singer has no hard feelings towards the British star, because Simon is a “TV genius” who knew how to attract viewers with his antics.
Clay said: “[Simon] said what he really felt, but that’s why he’s a TV genius, right? He knows how to make TV and he knew exactly what was necessary in terms of pushing buttons like nobody’s business.”
Clay recently returned to American Idol, which is now judged by Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood, to perform his new single Rewind, and he noted just how different things are now.
While the live audience “might be smaller” now than when he took part, he noted that the “production is bigger.”
He said: “I think we had two producers and three associate producers back then. Gosh, now, it’s so big. There’s 150 people [here].
“There may be hundreds of people who work here. I think there were 50 people who worked on my season.”
Clay is hoping to return to touring and after years of singing material chosen for him, he was quickly drawn to his comeback song Rewind.
He said: “I just knew immediately that this is not only a killer song, but it’s about the urge for nostalgia. The need to remember better times.”
