Music mogul Simon Cowell has opened up about the traumatic experience of having a stalker and admitted to hiding from her inside of his own house as she broke in.

In a new interview with InStyle magazine, the X Factor mastermind explained that Leanne Zaloumis, who was sentenced with a 12-month community order back in August, unsettled him to the point where he cowered in a cupboard as she entered his London home:

"I ended up hiding in one of my wardrobe closets until the police found her. That was a little bit spooky."

Cowell revealed that she even wrote the words "help me" in blood, adding: "A week later, I watched the movie 'Seven' and the serial killer did exactly the same thing."