Simon vs The Voice

Music mogul worried about the Saturday night ratings...

10:14 10 April 2012

Simon Cowell is reportedly planning to ditch his nasty reputation and become Mr Nice Guy in order to prevent the Voice UK from overtaking Britain's Got Talent in the ratings.

The talent show judge is said to be concerned that the new BBC One show is showing no signs of slowing down its ratings domination.

The Voice UK attracted four million more viewers than the ITV1 show during their 20-minute crossover at the weekend. It has regularly beaten the more established show each Saturday night.

An insider told The Sun:

"He'll learn lessons from it. Simon wasn't happy when he saw the ratings. He likes to be number one in everything he does. He has told producers they must make BGT even better.

"He is known as being a perfectionist and this will will only renew his desire to beat The Voice."

Cowell is also apparently worried about the prospect of singers opting to participate in the Voice instead of the X Factor later this year.

The source continued, saying:

"The big fear is that viewers will start seeing The Voice as the leading singing show. That would mean the best singers flocking to apply to it instead of The X Factor - and these shows live or die on their talent.

"Simon always learns lessons. He will be seriously considering whether he has to be nicer to contestants. He has softened his Mr Nasty image over the years. But maybe now he needs to turn fully into Mr Nice.

"It's clear viewers are starting to get a taste for more positive shows."

Catch the Voice UK and Britain's Got Talent Saturday nights on BBC One and ITV1.