Simon Cowell just said he regrets not taking full control of the One Direction name

Simon Cowell has gone on a podcast and revealed his biggest regrets regarding One Direction, including the details about how he really wishes he kept ownership of one major thing: The band name.

Appearing on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast, Simon Cowell spoke about his biggest regret regarding One Direction – the band consisting of Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne that were put together on the X factor in 2010 and became one of the biggest boybands of all time. One Direction made a fortune for Simon Cowell, but when Zayn left the band and they launched their solo careers his grip on them loosened. Simon Cowell explained how if he owned the One Direction name, he could make more money off touring without the need for all the lads to agree to do it.

Talking to Stephen Bartlett, Simon said about how if One Direction reformed people “would wanna hear the hits.” Bartlett then asked if the band were going to come back, and Simon said “I doubt it. The one thing I regret is I should have kept the name.” He then confirms that he doesn’t own the name, and when Bartlett asked who does Cowell replies “They do.”

Simon Cowell reveals that he doubts One Direction will ever reunite, and he regrets letting them own their name because “if one of the band members doesn’t want to tour, it stops the others from touring” pic.twitter.com/Oqkszauogf

— sᴜᴘᴇʀ ᴛᴠ (@superTV247) June 10, 2024

Simon continued: “That’s the only thing I do regret, because if one of the band members says for whatever reason they don’t want to tour it can stop the others touring. If it was me who owned the name, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

Bartlett then says “You could do it with three of them. So that’s what’s stopping a tour. Do they all own 20 per cent?”

Simon says “I believe so yes. I can be very naive at times, and that was me being very, very naive.”

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Simon Cowell was speaking about the name debacle on the Diary of a CEO podcast in anticipation of his latest project – finding the “next One Direction”. Advertisements have gone up around London asking for auditionees to try and put together a new boyband – which is building up to Cowell’s new deal he’s signed with Netflix. The deal was signed in March and filming is currently top secret and underway in the UK.

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