Simon Cowell used to put on his mother’s make-up and feign illness for an excuse not to go to school.

The American Idol judge hated going to school and would go to extreme lengths to excuse himself from the misery.

Cowell used to fool his parents into thinking he was sick by covering himself in a pale foundation and pretending to be ill.

He says: "I didn't like school so I had a trick - I would put my mother's white make-up on.

"I'd get a cup of tea, put it on my head and tell my parents, 'Not feeling well, feel my temperature.'"