Music mogul Simon Cowell has revealed that being a father to his first child, a son named Eric, has softened him up where his judging style is concerned. 

He spoke to People magazine about his role as a judge on America's Got Talent and explained that being a father himself, he is now "very conscious" of how he speaks to hopefuls who perform on the stage:

"There's no question when you actually have a kid, it does make you feel different because you understand how you would feel if it was your son up there. I'm very conscious that the kids who audition for AGT want to be there, they're not being pushed into it, and that they're having a great day out, otherwise we wouldn't see them."

He went onto add that X Factor and American Idol were edited badly so that he looked like he was being mean and insisted that he isn't like that at all:

"I think X Factor and Idol were edited so that I was always seen as this bad-tempered, miserable whatever – which of course I am at times, but I'm not like that the whole day! But on AGT there are so many feel-good moments that they show those more than me ripping people to pieces because they are rubbish."

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Watch an interview with Cowell below: