Jai McDowall won Britain’s Got Talent back in 2011, but his time on the show was marred by a feud with Simon Cowell, which took eight years to resolve
Britain’s Got Talent winner Jai McDowall has finally spoken out about his long-standing feud with Simon Cowell, which lasted a whopping eight years.
After winning the talent show in 2011, Jai was catapulted to stardom overnight, leaving him stunned as fans across the country clamored for his autographs and screaming his name. However, fame is not without its pitfalls, and after losing his record contract, an innocent comment about BGT boss Simon Cowell sparked an uncomfortable eight-year feud.
“It was misinterpreted,” Jai tells the Mirror, opening up about his fallout with Simon. Just months after bagging the top prize of £100,000 on the show, he secured a record deal with Syco – Simon’s label – and Sony Music, releasing his album Believe in December that year.
He then went on to perform a number of sell-out shows across the country, even sharing the stage with Josh Groban at the Royal Concert Hall. But in March the following year, it was announced that his contract would not be renewed.
During the live shows, Simon had criticized his vocals for being “monotone”, although he later praised his rendition of Groban’s To Where You Are during the final. Simon also stated that Jai wasn’t a “genuine star” and expressed his disappointment that he had won.
The pair reunited on Britain’s Got Talent’s Champions series, where Simon offered an apology for not backing him in the past. Reflecting on the past misunderstandings with Simon, Jai shared: “That was another turning point for my career and also mentally for me because there was – back in the day – some stuff with Simon and it was all sort of misinterpreted.
“It was a shame because I was doing an article for a paper on BGT and the guy was giving me a million reasons why and that Simon could be anti-Scottish. I laughed and said, ‘Yeah, sounds like it.’ And then it was like, ‘Jai says Simon is anti-Scottish’ and I was like, ‘No, that’s not what I said!’
“Then it just opened up a floodgates. It then took eight years to get back on the show. I remember getting the call for it and my agent was like, ‘Will you go? ‘ and I was like, ‘Yeah, of course I will.’ And he was like, ‘Are you sure? ‘ And I was like, ‘Yeah, of course I’m sure.’ Because I thought, at the end of the day, if there’s an issue I want to rectify it because I’ve always been grateful for the show.”
Jai went on to express his gratitude for the platform BGT gave him: “I’ve done lots of things with my life now that I just wouldn’t have looked to do if it wasn’t for BGT. It was life changing and I am and always will be grateful for it. I didn’t know how that was going to go and if Simon was going to slate me. But fortunately, he apologised and then I had the chance to apologise back.”
