Simon Cowell’s team has shut down reports about his ongoing search for the UK’s next big boyband.
Earlier in the summer, the TV mogul – who mentored One Direction during their time on The X Factor, and later signed them to his now-defunct Syco record label – revealed he was launching a nationwide talent search in a bid to put together a new pop act.
While reports claimed last month that the project, which was rumoured to be being filmed for a new Netflix documentary titled The Midas Touch, hadn’t exactly got off to the best start, the Mail On Sunday has since claimed that the project has been “abandoned” altogether.
Citing an undisclosed “insider”, the Mail claimed that the project was now being revised, and instead Simon’s planned documentary would focus on him “coming to terms with the fact that maybe the era of the chart-topping boyband is over”.
However, a spokesperson for the Britain’s Got Talent star has now dismissed this claim, branding the Mail’s reporting “entirely fabricated”.
“The claims made are false, and the quoted ‘source’ appears to be completely invented,” they insisted. “This project is primarily a search for a boyband, which is being documented; it is not a ‘show’, nor is it titled The Midas Touch, as the journalist claims.
“The article completely misrepresents how the music and documentary team views the audition process and the overall situation as far as the level of talent that the music team have found.”
HuffPost UK has also contacted Netflix for additional comment.
It was previously revealed that Simon was working with chart-topping songwriters Savan Kotecha and Kamille on his boyband search, while also seeking the advice of Louis Walsh, with whom he worked for over a decade on The X Factor.
Earlier this year, Louis appeared on ITV’s reboot of Celebrity Big Brother, where he and fellow housemate Sharon Osbourne made headlines for their no-holds-barred takedown of their former boss.