“That’s going to be total torture”: ‘America’s Got Talent’ judge Simon Cowell says his son wants to compete

While Simon Cowell is the producer and resident tough judge on America’s Got Talent and its U.K. version, he’s worried about a soft spot for a potential hopeful: his 9-year-old son, Eric.

“[Eric] decided he’s going to audition for Britain’s Got Talent,” Simon tells Entertainment Tonight.

“I think he wants to be in a rock band. He loves Green Day,” Cowell says. “That’s going to be total torture.”

He added, “I mean, of all the things I’ve ever done, this will probably be the hardest, because he does play drums. [He’s] going to drum and sing! I went, ‘Oh God, no,'” adding the lad is “really serious about it.”

Simon says, “I don’t know what it is. Maybe because all these kids are auditioning and now he wants to be up there with his friends … I think, hopefully, he’ll be sitting there in 10 or less years’ time.”

That said, for now Eric is contributing to the show in his own way, by spectating near his famous dad. Simon calls him “a great barometer” for talent.

“[W]ith kids you can’t fake it, you know? If they like something, they like it. If they don’t like it, they’re bored,” Cowell says.