Simon Cowell is known for his vanity, but he seems to have surpassed himself after reportedly demanding his garden bushes be cut in the shape of his head.
The music impresario was more Hedge Factor than The X Factor with his landscaping orders - and now a three-tiered head shaped bush is the horticultural centrepiece of his West London backyard, costing £40,000.
A source told The Mirror: "Simon is very particular about his £9 million house and needs everything to be perfect. He decided to overhaul his plot and, after consulting a landscape gardener, thought it would be hilarious to have little replicas of his hair everywhere. He briefly considered having topiary faces, too, but figured that would be a little extreme. So he plumped for the hair-shaped bushes.
"Simon has also had his terrace re-done, because the limestone tiles were ever so slightly askew. Finally, he has had a huge sculpture installed: two precise elliptical circles, representing his never-ending quest for perfection. The only non-manicured area is home to a partially hidden motorcycle, which he stores there. He thinks it looks quirky, in a Steve McQueen kinda way.”
The source adds: “Simon has some state-of-the-art exercise machines and a huge plasma TV on which he generally watches his own shows.”
While Cowell is happy with his new garden, he may not be spending much time there as he's busy with the new series of The X Factor.
Show bosses promise huge music stars for the live broadcasts, but one singer who won't be there will be rapper Plan B.
He recently told Shortlist: "No disrespect to anyone involved in those shows but all they do is boost your profile as a celebrity. There are a lot of pop acts with just a pretty face and a half-decent voice. They don't even write their own s**t.
"I'm lucky enough to have a gift that allows me to create things from nothing: music, films, fictional characters. Others don't have that, so their work goes into their image as a celebrity. So, if I have a gift like this, wouldn't I be neglecting it if I appeared on a show like The X Factor?"