Music mogul Simon Cowell has revealed that he once had to apologise to Beyoncé after criticising her vocal ability and now thinks she's a "super species" who "wants to rule the world". 

Speaking exclusively to Extra, Cowell recalled a particularly embarrassing incident where the 'Halo' superstar pulled a face at him during one of her concerts that set him straight about her skills as a singer:

"It was still obviously in her head what I said. I apologised because I was wrong. She sang better than I have ever heard anyone sing in my life live and at one point just looked over at me and went [with her eyes], 'criticise that'."

When asked what he thinks of her now, in 2011, he had nothing but praise for the pregnant star:

"Ambitious, talented, competitive. She defines this new breed of what I call super popstars, and they are all girls at the moment. It's like a new super species who literally want to rule the world. When she came out with that song there was no irony! She wants to rule the world!"

Watch Beyoncé's performance of 'Irreplaceable' at this year's Glastonbury Festival here: