Clay Aiken Says Simon Cowell Called Him ‘Ugly’ on ‘American Idol’: Judges Now Are ‘Much Kinder’

Clay Aiken isn’t mincing words about what it was like standing in front of Simon Cowell on American Idol — and one comment in particular still stands out more than two decades later.

The Season 2 runner-up returned to the singing competition series for the Monday, May 11 finale to perform his new single “Rewind.” He opened up about his experience with Cowell, the notoriously blunt former judge, in an interview with TV Insider published on Wednesday, May 13.

“He called me ugly,” the singer said. “Go look it up. It’s in there. You can watch the footage. I remember.”

Aiken told the publication that during his original audition, Cowell told him he “didn’t look like a pop star” but acknowledged he had “a great voice,” creating what Aiken described as “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.”

The singer admitted that rewatching old clips brought back memories he may have buried. “I listened to some of the things he’d said, and I thought, ‘Holy s**t!’ Did I block it out psychologically?” he told TV Insider.

Still, Aiken gave Cowell credit where it was due, calling him “a TV genius” who “knew exactly what was necessary in terms of pushing buttons like nobody’s business.”

He noted that despite the sharp on-camera persona, Cowell was warm behind the scenes — giving hugs and saying goodbye after contestants were eliminated, per the article.

Aiken reflected on how dramatically the show has changed since his season. He told the outlet that production has ballooned from roughly 50 crew members during season 2 to what he estimated is now hundreds, and noted that today’s judges are “much kinder” than the original panel.

The singer said he hopes to tour soon, adding that his son Parker Foster Aiken — whose mother is music producer Jaymes Foster, 68, the sister of Grammy-winning producer David Foster — is almost 18, giving him more freedom to hit the road. “It would be lovely. We’ll see how it goes,” he told the outlet.