BTS Fans In Outrage As Simon Cowell Tries To Invent New Genre 'UK-Pop' To Rival K-Pop

5 November 2019, 11:05 | Updated: 5 November 2019, 11:10

Simon Cowell has angered Little Mix and BTS fans with the announcement of his new talent show The Band.

Weeks after it was announced Little Mix are launching their own talent show on the BBC, The Search, to find the nation’s next biggest group, Simon Cowell revealed he too is creating a TV show with a similar mission.

Simon’s new talent show has not only angered Little Mix fans, as the programmes are set to air around the same time, but he’s also annoyed K-Pop fans after saying he wants to find a band to launch what he's calling "UK-Pop".

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“Simon Cowell wants to recreate BTS in Britain with a group and he’s calling it ‘UKPOP’ I’m in f*****g tears,” one person tweeted, as another said: “Pls tell me Simon Cowell isn’t actually trying to create a thing called ‘UKPOP’ just to compete with BTS tell me what I read was a joke.”

Meanwhile, a third wrote: “It’s amazing seeing armys go tf off at that article that simon cowell said he wanted to create a group that can surpass bts but what’s even better is that armys are also coming to little mix’s defense too. It’s a beautiful sign [sic].”

A fourth added: “That’s how you know @BTS_twt really got the WHOLE music industry shaking when Simon Cowell himself said, he wants to create a thing called ‘UK-Pop’.”

It comes after the music mogul explained he was planning to launch X Factor All Stars when the current celebrity series of The X Factor comes to an end, but he changed his plans and is instead launching X Factor The Band.

X Factor All Stars would have seen previous X Factor winners such as Leona Lewis, competing against one another for the all star title.

However, X Factor The Band will search for the country’s next big girl band, boy band or mixed group.

Little Mix apparently approached Simon to ask if he would co-produce their show, but he declined due to a conflict of interest.

He explained to the tabloids: “This is what really happened. I was approached to co-produce that show last year by Little Mix’s management.

“I told them the problem was we have a conflict of interest because we are launching X Factor The Band in 2020. We were told their show was going to launch in 2021.

“Then we had the fallout and find out Little Mix were bringing their show forward. Was that intentional because we are doing our show? I have no idea.

“But regardless, it was too much fun not to do this year. I would rather it was us doing it first. It 100 per cent makes it more exciting there being a battle.”

Revealing the type of band he hopes to find from his new show, Simon said: “K-Pop is ruling the world. This is a show to find a band to launch UK-Pop. It’s more than winning a record contract, it’s starting a new music wave.

“Every group will be put together by us — just like One Direction, Little Mix and Fifth Harmony. It’s people who represent Britain’s version of K-Pop. That was always our plan. We’ve just brought it forward a bit.”

Little Mix’s talent show will see Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock coach the singing hopefuls to become part of an all-male, all-female, or mixed band.

Their TV show is expected to air at the start of 2020.

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