Simon Cowell has been barred from chewing gum on the set of Britain’s Got Talent after producers grew tired of him sticking it under his desk.
The 66-year-old TV personality, record executive and businessman has acted as a judge on the ITV reality competition series since it launched in 2007.
He’s done so alongside Amanda Holden since the inaugural year, with the pair also currently joined on the judging panel by Alesha Dixon and KSI, who took over from Bruno Tonioli this season.
However, this time around he’s apparently drawn the ire of producers for a less than savoury habit.
It’s been reported that production staff discovered a ‘masticated mass’ of gum under the panel desk after the head judge had filmed the recent auditions.
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‘Simon is always chewing gum on set and has left producers with a real headache,’ a source told The Sun.
‘They tried to implement the gum ban, but telling Simon “No” is a task in itself.’
The source said Simon also recently found himself in a sticky situation during filming — with a wad of gum stuck to his black trousers.
‘He didn’t have a clue he had gum stuck to his trousers as he walked out on stage in front of thousands of fans,’ they explained.
The ban has also been extended to the entire panel, with the other three judges told they cannot use chewing gum on set.
This all comes after Simon recently told the same publication that his ‘most annoying habit’ was chewing a special £5 gum called CB12 that promises to eliminate bad breath.
‘I chew gum really loudly and it drives everyone mad,’ he said.
Ahead of the new season of Britain’s Got Talent launching last week, it was reported that bosses on the show also had to step in to stop Simon causing mayhem.
After learning that his hotel in Blackpool had a joke shop (as well as a nearby rollercoaster), Simon admitted that he went in and bought a trove of stink bombs, which Amanda claimed didn’t leave the production team best pleased when they found out about it.
‘Word got round that the stink bombs had been bought and the producers gave us a big talking to. We weren’t allowed them,’ she explained during a press day with Metro and other media.
With the show now in its 19th season, the panel also billed this season as an altogether more bonkers and British affair, with competition rife over who would get which act for their prized golden buzzer.
‘We were fighting over the golden buzzers a lot. That was funny,’ Simon laughed, prompting Dixon to share the one act that got her to dive across the panel desk for the big button.
‘I could sense Simon getting up, and I literally dived. I’ve never dived before. I dived onto the desk,’ the singer said, then adding of the production team, ‘and then they wanted me to recreate this dive.
‘I said, “How can I recreate this?” I injured myself just to stop him getting his way. But it was so funny.
‘For me overall, this season felt like we were back to the chaos that we love on our show. More than ever it just felt really bonkers.’
Meanwhile host Ant McPartlin said he and Dec Donnelly were ‘surprised more this series than ever before’ from their vantage point in the wings of the theatre at auditions.
They said that the series was ‘the one show on telly where you just don’t know what’s going to come on screen from one week to the next’.
Metro has contacted representatives for Simon Cowell and ITV for comment.
Britain’s Got Talent continues Saturday at 7pm on ITV1.
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