Simon Cowell, the man of an ego so strong it should be used to reinforce steel, says that Britney Spears is in awe of him. Really Simon? I thought the only person who was truly in awe of you was yourself.

How would the notoriously nasty American Idol judge grade Spears’ performance?

“9.5 [out of 10],” he told Extra. “This girl’s got huge star quality….You’ve got to hand it to her. She’s a great performer.”

“I would literally have her on my show every week for the next 10 years,” he told Seacrest.

What did the pair chat about backstage before Spears’ performance? Not much, Cowell says.

“To be fair - and this may be a bit egotistical - I think she was in awe of me,” he joked to Seacrest. “It was like she was just staring at me. At the end of it, I just said ‘Look - touch me - I’m human!’ And I think that broke the ice.”

Us weekly

In a seemingly unrelated story, Simon’s car was bugged.

The X Factor judge is said to have discovered a sophisticated tracking device magnetically attached to the undercarriage of his £140,000 Bentley Continental.

Cowell’s suspicions were raised when he noticed a mysterious motorcyclist who kept appearing outside buildings where he had attended private meetings.

He then called in his security team who made the alarming discovery.

‘Simon is completely freaked out by this. He can’t believe someone has gone to so much trouble and expense to monitor his every movement. It’s extremely sinister,’ a source told The Mirror.

‘He was aware that someone kept turning up a few minutes after he went everywhere. He couldn’t work out how that person knew his movements.

‘The tracking device was quite sophisticated and could have been used by the security services.’

Daily Mail

I have a theory about this. Every time an egotistical asshole succeeds in an industry which requires co-operation and people skills, I wonder if it’s all an act and behind the scenes they are actually quite personable. After all, it’s hard to get people to help you if you treat them like dirt all the time. Perhaps a Golden Globes voter wanted to know if Simon deserved an award for his excellent acting skills?

This theory is shot to pieces by the fact that the bug was just a tracking device. Probably his personal assistant put it there, so she could get some warning when he was coming.

Simon Cowell is shown leaving the Dorchester Hotel in London on 11/4/08. Credit: WENN. He is shown driving his quarter million dollar Bugatti Veyron on 09/28/08 outside the Ivy in LA. Credit: Fame Pictures