Simon Cowell Reveals Where He Stands with Ryan Seacrest: 'We Rarely Talk Now'

During an appearance on The New York Times' The Interview podcast, the British TV personality reflected on his years as a judge on American Idol, and threw a subtle dig at the show's longtime host.

Cowell, 66, and Seacrest, 50, worked together from the singing competition show's premiere in 2002 until Cowell's exit in 2010.

When the NYT noted that American Idol launched Seacrest's career, and asked Cowell why he believes he's so "popular," Cowell replied, "I can't really answer that one. He does work hard."

"He was very, very ambitious," he continued. "I didn't follow his career, so I don't know what he's done."

"We rarely talk now," The America's Got Talent judge continued. "He was very steely about his career -- wanting to be famous. This massive, massive desire about being, you know, very famous."

His comments aside, Cowell's rep said to Page Six that there has never been any bad blood between him and Seacrest.

Meanwhile, during the same New York Times interview, Cowell admitted he regrets being so insulting to so many young hopefuls during his years on Idol. In fact, despite what some may have believed over the years, he insisted he "wasn't trying to be a dick on purpose."

He went on to explain, "All I wanted with these shows was to find successful artists to sign to the label. So when all these people were coming in and they couldn't sing, I would be like when I used to audition people and someone would come in and they can't sing. We would say after 10 seconds, 'You can't sing.' Not, 'You're going to be brilliant.'"

Cowell was part of the original judging panel on American Idol, alongside Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, until his departure in 2010 to launch the short-lived U.S. version of his own singing competition series, The X Factor, in 2011.