In Netflix’s talent-hunt show Simon Cowell : The Next Act, due in December, a guy best known for issuing stern judgments from behind a desk on American Idol and X-Factor reveals himself as a loving dad with no shortage of anxiety. “I am very worried — I think we’re gonna fail,” Cowell says in the show after audition sign-ups are initially anemic.

The series, which traces the formation of a new boy band, also proves that the fundamental formula somehow still works — there’s always an unknown kid out there who can unleash talent so raw and obvious that even Cowell breaks character. “ I’m trying to keep a poker face on and not smile,” he says in the new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, “but I couldn’t help myself.” To hear the whole interview, go here for the pod

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