Simon Cowell furious after X Factor hopefuls trash villa
Simon Cowell The 50-year-old music mogul is hosting several finalists for UK talent show The X Factor at his lavish 20-bedroom mansion in Marbella. The singing hopefuls are in Spain to be “mentored” by Simon, but some members of the group have reportedly taken advantage of the millionaire’s hospitality and partied hard, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage after discovering Simon’s private supply of vintage champagne and imported beer.
The problems reportedly started on Sunday night, when several contestants raided Simon’s private bar before going for a swim in the ocean. They then stumbled back to the house – which Simon is renting at a cost of £15,000 a day – destroying a £5,000 Persian rug and staining designer and antique furniture with sea water and sand.
“It was chaos. It is thousands of pounds of damage. They were just very excited and things got out of hand,” a source told British newspaper The Daily Mail.
The contestants made so much noise they even managed to wake Simon, who was asleep in his private quarters on the other side of the property. He was furious, and said he is planning to dock the singers’ first pay cheques to cover the damage.
“Yes they did wake me up,” Simon said. “Any damage will have to be paid out of their first royalty cheque if they make it - to teach them a lesson.”