Simon i sat him down one day and i said, im gonna teach you three very, very important letters for when you get your first girlfriend. I said, its nda. A nondisclosure agreement . Hell be the first to tell you a healthy dose of ego never hurt anyone. I went to your office today, and saw a tenfoot picture of your face. Every time i look at the picture, i feel good. Tell me why. Simon cowell, the man who forever changed the landscape of entertainment. Can i come in . Harvey simon cowell come on in how are you . Im good. Thank you for inviting me to london, to your home. But this is like being at the Biggest Press conference in the world. harvey laughs it takes that to make you look good. Okay. laughs have a seat. Brilliant. What were gonna do, um, is not focus on the achievements in your career. I want to get into how you became that guy who achieved that much. So i want to start at childhood. Okay. Harvey so tell me what this is. Actually, this i think is my favorite picture, harvey. This laughs this is a sign of things to come, by the way. Thats you. Yeah, really miserable. Thats one of my oldest brothers, tony. Harvey right. Simon thats my mom, julie. Thats my dad, eric. Thats my little brother nicholas, and thats me, so i think that was in bermuda. So im guessing i was about. I would say about four years old then. Why that picture . Whyd you say that one . It really shows who my mum and dad were. You know, i kind of looked at them as very glamorous. Harvey your mom looks like jackie kennedy. Simon doesnt she . Harvey yeah. Simon and then i look really, really pissed off. Thats the sign of things to come. You were not an angel as a kid. No, i wasnt. I was really, really bad. I heard a terrible story. Tell me. You burned santa claus . Yeah, it was it was actually about this time. It was nicholas that still believed in santa claus, so i said, lets set fire to his outfit, which we did. And not only did we kill santa claus, we actually nearly burnt the whole house down. Thats terrible. So we murdered santa claus. You kind of had a privileged upbringing. Uh, yes. music playing we lived in a big house when we were growing up. Nannies, housekeepers, gardeners, blah, blah, blah, on the south coast of england. Harvey were you spoiled as a kid . Simon well, i was laughs yes, i guess i was. Actually my dad did spoil me. We would drive down we would get toys on a saturday, sweets on a sunday. He was terrible at discipline. Harvey you were terrible at school. Simon terrible. I was always in trouble, thrown out, suspended. Harvey bad grades. Simon horrendous. Harvey you ended up just quitting school, right . Yeah. I have a little bit of trouble understanding how somebody as smart as you could just not give a damn about school and learning. I thought it was a waste of time. Why . Because i wasnt getting anything out of it. I kind of learned how to add up in my head. I could talk english. I could write english. Learned a bit of french. And i just thought, what else is there to learn . So if you feel that way, did you have a goal to say, im gonna achieve x, and i know i can get there without school . Did you know what you were gonna do . Yeah, ill either be a film producer, ill work in the music business, or ill work in tv. And i didnt know what it meant, i just thought itd be one of those three. Your dad, he was a big influence in your life. Yeah. Yeah. Harvey his death came at a. Shocking time in your life, didnt it . I used to play him a lot of the records we were working on, and he had an amazing ear for a hit. And we signed this group not many people believed in them, harvey, but he said, i think this first records gonna be a number one record. I said, you really believe that . He said, yeah. Im never gonna say goodbye cause i never want to see you cry i swore to you my love would remain and id swear it all over again so i was in boston, and i was at a sales and music conference, and i got news that day that the record was gonna be number one. And of course the first thing i wanted to do was tell my mum and dad. And i phoned home, and i was talking to my mum, and i thought, shes not really listening, you know . I didnt know what was happening. Of course, he had unfortunately already passed away at that point, and they werent gonna tell me. Harvey that day . Yeah. So you had a whole conversation with your mom and she didnt tell you . She didnt tell me, and then, uh. She, uh they took hold of somebody else, who then came into the room, my bedroom and told me. Its like, christ. What do you take from your dad that makes you the guy you are now . Well, i still talk to my mum and dad now, you know, in my mind. If i really have a difficult decision, or im struggling with something, i have a mental conversation with both of them, and i absolutely know what the answer is. Its the weirdest thing. Do they generally steer you right or wrong . Right. Yeah. Yeah. What is that . Thats old. I actually dont have lots of things i kind of like or have. But this, i decided, was my favorite thing. Why . Because its like its old, and its got character, and its been with me on a lot of trips and meetings, and harvey highs and lows . Simon highs and lows. So, when you went off on your own, were you prepared for life . Um, no. No. I think that if i could go back, and do one thing again at school, i would say one subject i think they should teach us is good life. And that means credit cards, what it means, debt, mortgages, Interest Rates. I wasnt taught that. I wasnt prepared for any of that. Everything you just mentioned is about money. Well, it does unfortunately have a big impact on your life, particularly when you havent got any. And i didnt have any, and i had a lot of debt, and thats the time when you suddenly realize, i have no idea what im dealing with here. So howd you get into music . I got a job at Emi Music Publishing in the mailroom, which i used to have to walk around the west end of london with a mail cart. I actually was a bit intimidated in those days, because a lot of the guys my age who were in more kind of administrative roles, they used to look down at me, because i was their age, and i was delivering the mail. And then i met a friend of mine who was a manager. Within three months, we started our own record label, and then i had my first hit. Which was . A girl i was dating, actually, called sinitta. So macho hes gotta be so macho hes gotta be big and Strong Enough to turn me on simon cute, fun, and i just thought, we should make a record with her, and i started this record label. I had £5,000. I made the record, the video, i was the promotion person. I sold the record into the stores. I was the distributor. It took a year and a half, and then eventually i had my first hit. And you also had wonderdog. Oh, god, harvey. music playing, dog barking in rhythm harvey so, that was a big hit, but you kind of got in the act, didnt you . Simon literally. Literally. I said, well, what if we put a dog barking on a record for a joke . I send it over to radio one, they play the record, massive reaction. We then created this character called wonderdog. The actor we paid didnt turn up, so i had to get in the stupid bloody suit. laughs interviewer so then what do you do, then, in the evenings . Just go out, have a quiet night in. If theres any trouble to be solved, i solve it. And have you got any hobbies . Uh, not really, no. audience laughter i thought we were gonna make a lot of money you were wonderdog. Well, yeah, because we were gonna i thought we were gonna make millions. We thought we were gonna have our own animated series. Turns out that the guy who drew the dog ripped off tramp, you know, in lady and the tramp . So then we get a letter from disney, cease and desist. Whole thing comes crumbling down. We were a Small Company who was part of a Bigger Company. The Bigger Company collapsed, which meant we went down as well. When the Bigger Company was doing well, we all bought shares in the company. I borrowed a lot of money, thinking that the shares were gonna be worth a lot of money, so actually the shares were worthless. So now, i have no job, and i owe the bank half a million pounds. I think i had Something Like £3. 00 or 4. 00 cash in my pocket, and that was all the cash i had in the world. And i had to get from where i was to my parents apartment. cause you were moving in with them. Yes. 30 years old. Yes. And i didnt know whether the £3. 00 or 4. 00 would cover the taxi fare. And i remember, we just about managed the taxi fare, and i was so relieved that i could pay it. So you literally go to your front door of your family home flat broke. Completely. Actually owing money, a lot of money. Half a million pounds. Its gotta be a little humiliating at 30 years old to fail so hard. No. And to move back in. Honest to god, no. No . No, no. Thats when you say, hi, mom hi, dad they were thrilled to have me back. Get out. I swear. They were absolutely thrilled. It wasnt our son, the failure . No, they were like, you know, it doesnt matter. Youll sort yourself out. I was happy. Okay, im with you until happy. Youre 30 years old. You have ambition. You taste success. You lose it all. You move in with your parents. Youre broke and you owe money. And youre happy . Yeah. Why . Because i realized just how stupid id been. I still believed in myself. Did you . Yeah, i did, actually. Yeah, i didnt have any doubts about that. I just thought maybe i was around the wrong people. Ive got to sort myself out. Did other people in the industry did they view you as a failure . Of course, and certain people loved it. I mean, i had a tough time, im not gonna lie, and i was laughed at, i was humiliated. I was told i wouldnt succeed. The humiliation, some people crumble from it. You didnt crumble. No. No, i did feel some of the people who were mocking me i considered to be stupid in return. Music is a bitchy business. The worst. No, tvs as bad, actually, ive got to be honest. Tv may be as bad, but its a bitchy business. So there were a lot of people who took pleasure in seeing this kid fail. Yeah. And did that make you think, ill show them . Ive learned over the years that revenge is sort of a bit of a waste of time. You know, the best revenge is when youre successful. Harvey so, when you look back, what about your failure made you ultimately succeed . I owned it. I didnt blame anyone else. It was my own responsibility. Whats more important, money or art . Money. Why . You can buy art with money. You ever wish you werent a motaur . Sure. Sometimes i wish i had legs like you. Yeah, like a regular person. No. Still half bike half man, just the opposite. Oh, so the legs on the bottom and motorcycle on the top . Yeah. Yeah, i could see that. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Ysome because ourstop. Communities need you. Which is why were working to keep you working. And ready to dig in. To help you keep your properties and towns maintained. Your farm running. And construction moving. Your work is essential. Kubotas 1,100 dealers are behind you. Together we will get through this. Call or email your kubota dealer about 0 financing. No payments for 90 days offer expires 5 31. Together we do more. Lets be honest. Quitting smoking is hard. Like, quitting every monday hard. Quitting feels so big. So try making it smaller, and youll be surprised at how easily starting small can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette. Me too. Me too. And if youre a small business, were with you. Standing by you every step of the way. Bye bye. This. Whole world. Of people. Adventurous people. And survivors. It was interesting to think about their lives. Their successes. And. Their hardships. I think thats part of what i want my kids to know. They come from people who. Were brave. And took risks. Big risks. No pressure. [short laugh] bring your Family History to life, like never before. Get started for free at ancestry. Com beyond the routine checkups. Beyond the notsoroutine cases. Comcast business is helping doctors provide care in whole new ways. All working with a new generation of technologies powered by our gigspeed network. Because beyond technology. There is human ingenuity. Every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected. To do the extraordinary. Take your business beyond. Okay, whats so special about this . Simon it says riva. Harvey what does that mean . Simon riva. Well, riva is like the best powerboat in the world. I love rivas, so i thought, yeah, this is good. Now were gonna get into success. So, youre when you were living at home, at a point, you had to have a new plan. So what turned your life around . What turned my life around . I managed to get a deal with bmg. Harvey okay. Simon im now past 30, harvey. And i start to understand, round about this age, that this is a business where anyone can buy your products. You can be young, middleaged, you can be old. What can i do which sets me apart from everybody else . So what could you do . Tv. And in the studio to pursue these points, morris veronique and simon cowell. Simon i started to see there was television, there was music, and how can i be the bridge between things being on tv and then selling records . Its just sort of i wouldnt say it was a light bulb moment. I just saw this massive opportunity. A friend of mine whose son had, um. Had gone to see the wrestlers . They were called the wwf in those days. He said, you know theyve sold out wembley stadium, 82,000 seats in 27 minutes . No artist in the worlds doing that. I said, let me have a look at it, and i watched the show, and its like music everywhere, and i called up vince mcmahon, you know, blind call. I went, can i have a conversation with someone about the music . I just bought the music rights to the wwf. Didnt know what i was gonna do with it. When i told my boss, she said, what . Theyre wrestlers. What are you gonna do with it . I said, look, these kids are buying up everything. The musics a big part of it. Well do it. She got on her knees, harvey, literally said, im begging you not to do this. And i went, well, im doing it. And i did it. I phoned up haim saban, cause hes got the Power Rangers, and i said, how much do you want to sell me the Power Rangers music rights for . And he gave me this astronomical figure. I said, well, i havent got that kind of money. He said, well, why should i give it to you . I said, cause theres no gold disc, haim, on that wall. And he went, youre right. And so he gave it to me for like 50 grand. Again, i sold millions and millions of records. Go, go, Power Rangers go, go, Power Rangers go, go, Power Rangers man again im not singing anymore youve achieved so much. What is success . Oh, god. The ability to do what you want to do in your life. Whats it measured by . By money, by gold records . Partly money. Money . Partly money, yeah. Enough how much of a part is money . Its always a part. Ive never met an artist or a producer who will do it for nothing. You arent ashamed of the trappings of success. Not ashamed of it, no. You have a beautiful home in london, you have a beautiful home in beverly hills. You go on great vacations, you. You know, you have a lot of money and you spend a lot of money. Simon living the dream. Whats more important, money or art . Money. Why . You can buy art with money. Harvey you have had your share of accolades and awards. How important is that to you . Not as important as having hits. Where do you see your biggest success . Where do you see, this was the seminal moment of my life . Too many times, harvey, because every hit has a meaning for me. I think, look, when stammers once you go over the age of 50, you always want to believe that you still are. Relevant . Yeah, relevant, yeah, yeah. Does that scare you . Yeah, yeah. Because you dont want to be the dad dancing at the wedding. You got an email from itv in england, saying americas got talent was bleep . They turned it down, and i had no buyer. And sometimes, you can find yourself heading in a new direction. But when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Youre clearly someonere who takes care of yourself. So when it comes to screening for colon cancer, dont wait. Because when caught early, its more treatable. Im cologuard. Im noninvasive and detect altered dna in your stool to find 92 of colon cancers. Even in early stages. Tell me more. Its for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your prescriber if cologuard is right for you. Im on it. Thats a step in the right direction. I have always wanted to be a teacher. Ive been teaching for over 20 years. With everything going on, weve had to alter our classroom settings. We have to transition into virtual learning. On the network, we can have teachers facetoface with a student in livetime. They can raise their hand and ask questions. They can type questions. We just need to make sure that the education is continuing. vo at verizon, were here and were ready to keep students and teachers connected to the world. Thats why verizon and the New York Times are offering 14 Million Students free Digital Access to times journalism. And i like to question your im yoevery move. N law. Like this ft turn. Its the next one. You always drive this slow . How did you make someone i love . That must be why youre always so late. I do not speed. And thats saving me cash with drivewise. My son, he did say that you were the safe option. And thats the nicest thing you ever said to me. So get allstate. Stop bossing. Where good drivers save 40 for avoiding mayhem, like me. This is my sons favorite color, you should try it. [mayhem] you always drive like an old lady . [tina] youre an old lady. When im thinking of an idea for a show, i write them out on a piece of paper. So this was i was in an apartment i lived in, and i was watching a show, another show which had singers on, and this singer was so bad i thought to myself, you know what . I would rather watch a show with a dancing dog. Ill make a show in which we have dancing dogs. And so that night i wrote out this format, and its called the best talent show in the world the talent show. Which actually is got talent. Harvey got talent. cheers, applause music playing good boy so this is pretty true to form. Its pretty close. Its pretty close, yeah. I mean its not complicated. It talks about how many people start, and it talks about how we narrow the people down. Harvey so this is a pretty good template. Simon yeah. Actually, the interesting thing is, that is essentially the format, and its a half a page. One of your Business Partners told me today that you got an email from itv in england, saying t