Lord Alan Sugar has advised Simon Cowell to shave his beard off.
The 55-year-old music mogul debuted his new facial hair at the launch of ‘The X Factor’ earlier this year and although a number of celebrities have approved of his new look, ‘The Apprentice’ boss Lord Sugar – who is rarely clean shaven himself – isn’t convinced.
Asked if he has any advice for Simon on how to improve ‘The X Factor’s dwindling viewing figures, he said: "He wouldn’t listen to me … Shave the beard off for a start."
The 68-year-old business magnate also claimed the reason ‘The Apprentice’ remains so successful while ‘The X Factor’ is struggling is because they don’t rely on "gimmicks".
Speaking at the launch of the upcoming 11th series of the show at London’s Soho Hotel, Lord Sugar said: "The BBC, the production company and myself are not interested in gimmicks and trying to change things. If it’s not broke, don’t try and fix it. It’s the consistency of keeping things the same with slight tweaks.
"In my opinion, and I say this respectfully to ‘The X Factor’, gimmicks don’t seem to work."
‘The Apprentice’ starts next Wednesday, October 14 at 9pm on BBC One.
Lord Alan Sugar: Simon Cowell should shave beard off
