The Take That star spends most of his spare time scouting for new talent and hopes he can guide them to success in the same way the music mogul has launched careers for his acts - including Leona Lewis and Kelly Clarkson, who Simon discovered on TV talent shows.

Gary said: 'I am at a lot of shows. I go mainly to small bars. I don’t wear a disguise but I’m at the back keeping it low-key. It’s mostly in London but now and again I’m in Manchester.

'We do three things – publishing, management and we sign acts to Universal. I love all that stuff. It is my future.

'I don’t want to be exactly like Simon Cowell but I will do what he has done and do it my way. 'He goes for people who he thinks he can make into something. I try to find people who already are something.'

Despite his passion, the singer insists he would never appear as a judge on a talent search show, after suffering from terrible nerves when he appeared on Simon’s show 'The X Factor’.

Gary added to Britain’s The Sun newspaper: 'I really can’t see myself being an 'X Factor’ judge. Being in the studio the other week was weird.

'You walk out there and Cowell’s just looking at you. It puts you on edge straight away. How those kids must feel every week. It’s nerve-wracking. I’d be b****y nervous.

'The truth is, I wouldn’t have got through if I had tried. It’s terrible.'