Pete Waterman reunites with Simon Cowell for Netflix show The Next Act
Legendary record producer Pete Waterman will join forces with Pop Idol co-star Simon Cowell once again on the Netflix series The Next Act as they aim to put a boyband together.
Pete Waterman has reunited with Simon Cowell for the Netflix talent show The Next Act.
The 78-year-old record producer - part of the successful Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) trio alongside Mike Stock and Matt Aitken during the 1980s and 1990s - has joined forces with Simon, who he was on the judging panel with for Pop Idol, to form a boyband for the new series on the streamer.
Pete is quoted by the Daily Star newspaper's Hot TV column as saying: "I have been doing some filming with Simon for the show.
"It's great fun to be doing something together again. We are best mates."
Waterman added: "I agreed to do it straight away. If Simon asked me to walk across hot coals, I'd do it."
Pete and Simon appeared together on ITV's Pop Idol from 2001 to 2003 and revealed that he want against advice to appear on the show - which launched the careers of the likes of Will Young and Gareth Gates.
The record producer, who produced hits for stars such as Kylie Minogue and Rick Astley through SAW, recalled: "It was an amazing time. Everyone was negative about it when I was asked to do it.
"My own staff told me I shouldn't do it. But I wanted to do it.
"I thought going on the road with Simon would be a laugh. Me and him have always had that love-hate relationship. That's what made Pop Idol work."
Pete still isn't shy about sharing his opinions on the current state of the music industry as he took aim at Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter earlier this year regarding her raunchy choice of outfits.
He told The Sun newspaper: "To see Sabrina Carpenter dressed as a little girl is quite offensive. She doesn’t need that.
"She’s got great talent, and yet the whole of the industry, these girls come out in as little as possible because they know they’re driving young boys to their websites."
Meanwhile, his collaborator Mike Stock hit out at Carpenter's suggestive lyrics.
He said: "You’d always be allegorical or allude to it somehow. So I don’t like that.
"I think it’s a bad show and it’s lazy. You’re going to grab some form of attention by doing that."
