Gotcha Images / Splash NewsFor anyone thinking Simon Cowell is secretly gay despite the bevy of beautiful women often by his side, well, the famous bachelor has a message for you: Who cares?!
In an interview with the U.K.'s Radio Times while making the publicity rounds for Britain's Got Talent, the 53-year-old Cowell claimed he doesn't give a fig regarding the tabloid speculation about his sexuality.
"I couldn't care less because it's nothing to be ashamed of. It feels like such an antiquated question now," the music mogul said (via the Huffington Post U.K.). "If I was living 200 years ago in a coal mine, maybe, but I work in possibly the gayest industry in the world."
He continued: "It would make no difference to my life or my career. A lot of my friends are gay, but I'm not and don't even think that way any more."
When asked whether he hires fellow panelists on his show whom he finds attractive as well, Cowell 'fessed up.
"A lot of them, yes, I'm not going to lie," he said, singling out former X Factor U.K. judge and English singer Cheryl Cole especially. "I mean, literally, when she walked on set on the first day in the U.K. I thought that she was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life. I mean, genuinely."
As for Simon's own life, the never-married impresario said that he's "not actively looking for a wife"—though he did head down the altar last month with comedian David Walliams. But that was all in good sport for Red Nose Day, an annual tradition started by Comic Relief to benefit various charities.
Cowell added that after several successive long-term relationships, he considers himself a "good breaker-upper."