Simon Cowell yesterday admitted he could keep working for at least another decade. The 52-year-old television producer spends time on both sides of the Atlantic and has demonstrated little appetite for slowing down.
When asked if he could be like Sir Alex Ferguson, who remains the Manchester United boss despite setting a retirement date of summer 2002, he replied: “You never know, you’re probably right.”
The music mogul added: “The way I’m doing it at the moment works fine, producing X Factor (and) appearing on (Britain’s) Got Talent. It works very well.”
Mr Cowell, who created the X Factor brand, said there was no difference between the talent in the United States and the UK.
“Genuinely it’s all about finding that one rare person and you never know whether you’re going to find it in England or America, but luckily I’ve found it both sides,” he said.
Doomed dinner menu
A poignant reminder of the last lunch on board the Titanic is expected to fetch up to £100,000 when it goes under the hammer.
A menu, dated April 14 1912, shows the lavish fare offered to first-class passengers on the last day on board. Dishes included eggs Argenteuil, consomme fermier, chicken a la Maryland, galantine of chicken and grilled mutton chops.
The sale is being held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic on March 31.
Boy misses car robbery
A six-year-old boy who was asleep in the back of a car when it was stolen in New York was still asleep half an hour later when the car was recovered.
His father had left the car running while he went into a shop to buy a drink, but in the few minutes he was away from the car, thieves pounced to drive away in his vehicle.
The father has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, even though the boy was not harmed and slept through the entire ordeal.
On trial over pumpkin ‘theft’
A student is to stand trial in New Mexico, charged with stealing a pumpkin worth £1.20.
Lauren Medina claims she forgot to pay for the pumpkin she picked up after paying for £40 of groceries in a shop in Albuquerque.
Her sister, Annette Atencio, claims Ms Medina offered to pay for the pumpkin, but her offer was turned down and she was placed in handcuffs.
Bronte portrait up for auction
A hitherto unknown portrait believed to be of author Emily Bronte is expected to fetch thousands of pounds when it goes under the hammer this week.
The oil painting is the latest in a flurry of items relating to the Bronte sisters to be put up for auction in the last few months.
Its sale by JP Humbert’s in Northamptonshire comes after the auction house sold another painting of the reclusive writer for £23,836 in December.
Auctioneer Jonathan Humbert said the 33cm by 24cm painting has already attracted international interest after the previous sale – which originally had a guide price of between £10,000 and £15,000.
The second painting, which is annotated “Emily Jane Bronte”, was originally estimated to fetch around £3,000 but, after growing interest, now has an estimate of £5,000-£8,000 for its sale tomorrow.