‘BBC talent show is just silly rivalry’, says Cowell

Britain’s Got Talent supremo Simon Cowell has accused the BBC of “silly rivalry” over the competition between his show and The Voice.

Both shows start tomorrow and go head-to-head for around 20 minutes in the primetime Saturday night schedule.

Speaking at the press launch for the ITV1 show, Cowell said he would “probably watch about five minutes” of the BBC show which features Tom Jones and Jessie J among the judges searching for a singing star.

Cowell said the BBC was deliberately ramping up the rivalry and said the corporation should “get their sense of humour back”. He added: “When you get to the point with your shows that you mess around with the schedules and it affects the viewers when you go head-to-head, that to me is silly rivalry.”

Cowell said he loved “competition”, but added that he would “query” if there was a need for another singing talent show.