Simon Cowell is NOT a happy bunny.
The music mogul was left ‘irritated’ when X Factor’s current ‘top judge’ was given an OBE by The Queen following his Diamond Jubilee involvement earlier this year.
The revelation comes from the latest instalment of Simon’s biography Sweet Revenge.
According to Sweet Revenge's author Tom Bower, Simon is worried that Gary’s stealing his crown as the music industry’s top dog. Plus he’s always wanted an OBE of his own.
Tom wrote: “The announcement that Barlow would receive an OBE for arranging the event added to his irritation. He chased that madly to get three initials after his name."
‘Gary claws his way back into the industry’
'Top judge' Gary
Simon finds it hard to believe that Gary, who ‘clawed his way back into the music industry after failing as a solo artist', has become such a success in recent years.
“The ambitions of Barlow, he believed, were comical. Ever since Barlow had clawed his way back after a disastrous attempt to become a solo star, Cowell was niggled by his conviction that Barlow was bidding to establish a rival entertainment empire and, like Paul McCartney, secure a knighthood."
And Simon was even texting his pals, criticising Gary at the time of his OBE, to make him look bad.
“He enjoyed snubbing the man who foolishly asserted that he was the top judge, not Louis Walsh, by texting his criticism about Barlow to others."
The new chapter of Tom’s book - titled Self-Doubt - has been added to the paperback edition of the original book, Sweet Revenge.