HAUNTED COWELL CALLS IN E ORCIST

PLUS: What he REALLY thinks of 1D

X FACTOR boss Simon Cowell told last night how he was forced to call ghostbusters after being spooked in his house.

A poltergeist made his life hell but even an exorcist failed to shift the spirit.

In a tell-all interview he also reveals what he thinks of his old boyband One Direction.

SIMON Cowell has revealed how ghosts follow him around and want to chat with him.

The X Factor boss said he has had many supernatural experiences.

He said: “Over the years I have seen and heard things so I do believe in ghosts but I am not afraid of them.

“They just want to make contact and say hello.”

However, he met his match with one poltergeist who started to make his life hell. He said: “I had one in my house when I was living in Kingston Hill.

“My mum and dad were staying with me and I heard this banging on the door. I went to their room and said: ‘You were banging on my door?’ and they said: ‘It wasn’t us.’

“There was a dog in the house freaking out too. The following day I heard this crashing noise and all the stuff had fallen in the kitchen.

“There was no logical explanation. There was no wind but there was definitely a presence. But I wasn’t afraid.”

Later Simon, 56, found out that his pad had a history of hauntings and an exorcist had to be summoned.

Funny

He said: “I found that the land where my house was on was part of a bigger house. It got so bad they had to call in an exorcist. So I believe in ghosts.”

The dad-of-one opened up in an exclusive interview with the Daily Star at his Judges’ Houses in Los Angeles.

Simon and Spice Girls Emma Bunton and Mel B had to choose the best three singers for his girls category.

He is very happy with the old-school line-up alongside Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Nicole Scherzinger.

And when asked how some members of the panel look younger than they did years ago, he joked: “It’s nature. Nature is helping us all.”

Then he adds: “It begins with B and ends in -otox. Louis started the trend. He’s got more hair now and the bags have disappeared. It’s funny that.

“Sharon’s open, she doesn’t care, and that’s what I love about her. How do I keep looking young? No stress.”

However the TV and music mogul made no bones about the fact that between 2011 and 2013, when he wasn’t on the panel, things got boring.

Gary Barlow was heading up the panel but Simon warned: “When it gets too boring, you’ve got a problem.”

When told few people can remember some judges who were on the show in that time, he laughed: “Funnily enough nor can anyone else.”

However Gary and Simon are about to become bitter TV rivals – the Take That star is launching a talent show on BBC One next year to find a boyband for his musical Let It Shine. Cowell is not happy there will be five talent shows on the box.

The Voice, Let It Shine and a Spice Girls BBC talent series will compete with Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor.

He blasted: “It’s insane. But the good ones will end up surviving.”

Asked how he felt about Gary grabbing Dannii Minogue for his show when she was voted X Factor viewers’ favourite all-time judge, he quipped: “Not in the polls I saw!” Cowell also denied there is any rift between him and his ex-girlfriend Sinitta, who yet again fails to appear at Judges’ Houses. Simon said: “I did invite Sinitta but I got a text saying she was working so she couldn’t. I think it would have been the hilarious the three of them.” As viewers will see this weekend, he had his work cut out trying to deal with the two Spices as they squabbled over who to

I do believe in ghosts but I’m not afraid

put through. The pair are busy themselves as they prepare for the Spice Girls reunion with Geri Horner and Cowell said he would sign their trio, GEM, “in an instant”.

However, he was less forthcoming when it came to One Direction.

Simon admits he is upset that Niall Horan and Liam Payne have not stayed with his record company Syco.

He said: “I guess people make their own decisions but I feel disappointed. It’s a difficult one to talk about.”

Simon also has another TV project up his sleeve – a kids’ animation inspired by his two-year-old son Eric. He said: “I’d love to have a successful animated movie. I love watching cartoons and with Eric we’re finally getting onto the stuff I loved – Jungle Book, Shrek, Thunderbirds.”

Meanwhile, Emma and Mel B enjoyed a secret reunion in the back of a taxi, singing to a karaoke version of their debut hit Wannabe while in LA.

Mel revealed: “I have karaoke in my car. We listened to Wannabe. I have mics in the car but I think they’re there for the kids!”

See X Factor Judges’ Houses on ITV tonight at 8pm, tomorrow at 7.30pm.