Simon Cowell has been criticised on social media after revealing he has one major regret following his time working with One Direction following their success

Simon Cowell has been branded “the worst” following one revelation about One Direction.

The music mogul, 64, mentored the band during their time on The X Factor and subsequently signed the five-piece to his record label, Syco, after they finished in third place on the show. Since catapulting to global fame thanks to their boyish personalities and infectious music, the band have sold over 70 million records worldwide.

But four years after Nicole Scherzinger formed them on the former talent show, Zayn Malik announced his departure from the group. Just one year later, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne announced the band would be embarking on an indefinite hiatus.

Although Simon was instrumental in helping the band crack the music industry, he’s openly admitted he has one major regret. Speaking on a new podcast, he didn’t hold back as he explained he “doubts” the band will ever get back together again.

One Direction were signed by Simon’s record label, Syco ( 
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Getty Images)

He told Steven Bartlett on the Diary of a CEO podcast: “One thing I regret, is, I should have kept the name. I should have owned the name.” He later confirmed that the band members own the name One Direction, adding: “That’s the problem, could have made an animation or whatever but when you give an artist the name, it’s not yours and that’s my only regret.

“So if you’re listening, I’ll buy it back from you. But that’s the only thing I do regret. If one of the band members, for whatever reason say they don’t want to tour, it can stop the others touring, so if it was me who owned the name, it wouldn’t be a problem.” Since the clip has been shared, Simon has been heavily criticised.

Ashton Irwin, the drummer of 5 Seconds of Summer who previously toured with One Direction and were later listed as directors on 5SOS’ company, 5SOS LLP has also taken to social media to criticise Simon. In view of his 5.9 million followers on X, Irwin said: “The worst.”

Ashton Irwin of 5 Seconds of Summer branded Simon ‘the worst’ ( 
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GC Images)
“This man, and this single statement, embodies everything wrong with the music [and entertainment] industry,” said one follower. While a second penned: “Well damn it a good thing they owned the name then.” However, some defended Cowell’s comments stating that he is a businessman and it was a business move.

Simon had previously suggested a feud between some members of him and One Direction, explaining that Harry, Louis and Niall had been “incredibly loyal” after Liam Payne signed a record deal away from Syco. Meanwhile, Payne has previously spoken about his time in the band and how the lads had been overworked.

Liam said: “We [One Direction] were definitely overworked. I had no personal life, I learnt nothing about myself. I just lived so long as this reclusive pop star who was afraid of people, who just stayed inside all the time. I needed to stop, definitely. It would have killed me.”