At 5ft 8in and with mousy brown hair, Simon Fuller is arguably one of the most non-famous famous people in the world.
Despite an estimated £450million fortune, making him one of the wealthiest people in showbusiness, he is so unassuming you’d walk past him in the street – unlike his instantly recognisable namesake and nemesis Simon Cowell.
But all that could be about to change. Fuller, 65, is preparing to drop a bombshell on the celebrity world that is likely to raise his profile considerably.
Fuller, who masterminded the careers of the Spice Girls, S Club 7 and Amy Winehouse, plus Sir Andy Murray and Sir Lewis Hamilton, is writing a warts-and-all autobiography, lifting the lid on his 45 years behind the scenes.
Touted as one of the ‘most explosive and revelatory’ books of the decade, Fuller is ‘writing as we speak’ after getting a publishing deal, say sources. They add that it has put the ‘cat among the pigeons’ as celebrities’ nerves fray at the prospect of their darkest secrets being spilled.
‘Simon is working hard on the book,’ says one source. ‘Word has got round to many of the stars he used to work with that he is doing this and it has prompted much conversation. While it all looks very glamorous from the outside, behind the scenes things aren’t always so straightforward.’
So why spill the beans now, after a life in the shadows? At least part of the reason is that, despite his millions, he may need the cash to fund an expensive divorce.
Last year, after rumours swirled in Hollywood that he and wife Natalie Swanston, 45, had separate lives, she filed for divorce in the US, citing ‘irreconcilable differences’.
The Spice Girls with their manager Simon Fuller, and Emma Bunton’s mother, Pauline, in 1997
Although the couple, who married in a star-studded ceremony in California’s Napa Valley almost 17 years ago, signed a prenuptial agreement, it is anticipated that their split could prompt a financial fight.
One source suggested Fuller could be set to pay Natalie, mother of his three daughters, up to £200million. That means there is every chance he could choose to spill the beans on his romantic life. ‘If he wants it to sell, it will have to be juicy,’ adds the source. ‘There’s plenty of material.’
Indeed there is. Those who know him well say that, while he can be charm personified, he has the potential to be very abrasive.
This has led to several high-profile feuds, which means there are some people justified in having concerns about what the book might contain. Sources say some are terrified. And they are household names.
Fuller managed the Spice Girls and catapulted them to global fame. He also worked with Victoria and David Beckham to create the ‘Posh and Becks’ brand.
The hugely successful Pop Idol and American Idol TV talent show formats were dreamt up by Fuller – American Idol is in its 26th series and still a ratings juggernaut – creating stars such as Kelly Clarkson and Will Young.
One of the names expected to make an appearance in Fuller’s book is Cowell, after their bitter legal battle in 2004.
In arguably one of the most brutal showbiz feuds, Fuller launched a £100million lawsuit against Cowell, accusing him of copyright infringement over similarities between Fuller’s talent shows – on which Cowell was a judge alongside Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson – and Cowell’s UK version, The X Factor, which launched on ITV that year.
Fuller at the wedding of Melanie Brown to hairdresser Rory McPhee at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, in 2025
The case was settled in 2005 on the basis that The X Factor would not air in the US until 2011 – and that, if it was shown, Fuller would be granted an executive producer credit to recognise his original ideas.
A further agreement, Fuller said, was that Cowell would remain a judge on American Idol for another five seasons.
But that was not the end of the froideur between the pair. When 2011 dawned and The X Factor was preparing to launch across the pond – with Paula Abdul as one of its judges – Fuller sued Rupert Murdoch’s TV network Fox, and producers Fremantle, for breach of contract, reiterating that he had been ‘contractually promised’ the executive producer credit and a fee.
Again, they reached a confidential settlement but sources tell me it left ‘a lot of bad blood’.
An associate of Fuller’s said: ‘He thought that Cowell copied him. Fuller would never hire anyone who Cowell had hired to take part in his projects.
‘Time has passed but that time was brutal for both of them. The cases were settled but they caused a lot of fury on both sides.’
Tensions were running so high that Cowell publicly branded Fuller ‘cowardly’ in 2011. In an interview, he said: ‘It goes back to being a kid; if you shake hands with somebody, then it’s a deal, simple as that.
‘If someone breaks that trust, and they can’t admit it to you, it’s cowardly. I’d rather have a person look me in the eye and say, “I’m going to screw you”.’
There has also long been chatter that Fuller’s defining career move in managing the Spice Girls – leading to him being seen as Britain’s most successful music mogul – prompted jealousy from Cowell, who famously turned down the group. Whatever the truth, no one has heard it from Fuller’s side.
There has also long been chatter that Fuller’s defining career move in managing the Spice Girls (pictured in Paris in 1996) – leading to him being seen as Britain’s most successful music mogul – prompted jealousy from Cowell, who famously turned down the group
‘Any of this poison would be great for sales,’ says a source. ‘People are fascinated by Simon Cowell and there are not many people who worked with him like the “Other Simon” did.
‘You can imagine that the truth about the fallout between them would be very juicy indeed. You can see why publishers were biting Simon’s arm off for this book. He has worked with the biggest British stars in the world.’
Among them were David and Victoria Beckham, once so close to Fuller. He was not only said to have adored the pair, he also benefited hugely from the cash they generated throughout the nearly two decades they worked together.
Fuller would have had a ringside seat for all the tumult inside Brand Beckham – including David’s reported romance with his former PA Rebecca Loos while he was playing for Real Madrid. The mogul masterminded the crisis management strategy that ensured David and Victoria came out of the scandal relatively unscathed.
Fuller was also central to David’s deal with US football team LA Galaxy, which saw the Beckhams relocate to California in 2007.
But this was another relationship that ended acrimoniously.
A fallout in 2018 – over issues which, for legal reasons, I cannot divulge – meant the couple parted ways with Fuller the following year. Today, their only connection is that Fuller remains a shareholder in Victoria’s fashion empire. ‘Simon was around the couple all the time, he knows the secrets,’ says an associate. ‘He knows David and Victoria don’t have much time for him now.’
I’m told a non-disclosure agreement would have been put in place when their professional relationship ended, but that may not prevent him from ‘telling his truth’.
Fuller, whose upbringing in Hastings, East Sussex, was solidly middle-class, began his showbusiness career in 1981 with Chrysalis Music, where he signed Madonna’s breakthrough hit Holiday to the company.
Fuller brought Formula One superstar Lewis Hamilton under his wing. At the time, Lewis was in a high-profile relationship with Pussycat Doll singer Nicole Scherzinger (who later became a judge on Cowell’s The X Factor)
Within four years, he had started his own management company, 19 Entertainment (now XIX). A decade later, he found his pot of gold with the Spice Girls – which is likely to be another healthy source of material for his book.
No one is better placed to dish the dirt on their early days than Fuller.
There were rumours that he and Emma Bunton, known as ‘Baby Spice’, had become close. And he was in the background when Geri and Mel B allegedly had a brief romance – something Mel B confessed to on an episode of Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2019 but which Geri has vehemently denied.
By 1997, amid rising tensions and resentment over his strict management style – he described himself as a ‘sergeant major’ – he was sent packing.
‘Simon was obviously unhappy about getting sacked,’ says a source who worked with the band. ‘The full story never came out about what happened, maybe it will now. He was at the heart of it all when things were really big for the band.’
It was Fuller who went on to organise the Spice Girls’ two reunions to date, in 2008 and 2019.
He is now attempting to bring them back together for another tour, having held a meeting with Geri last year.
Hollywood stars may have to watch their backs, too.
Fuller was a big noise there thanks to the enormous popularity of his talent shows. He turned singer Paula Abdul into a TV star when he hired her as an ‘Idol’ judge in 2002.
It remains to be seen what he’d write about the allegation that she had an affair with a contestant, something Abdul strongly denied.
Then there is his friendship with TV producer ‘Nasty’ Nigel Lythgoe, with whom he created the US talent show So You Think You Can Dance, which was hosted by Cat Deeley.
As my snitch points out: ‘Hollywood needs to watch out, too.’
And the world of sport is not immune to Fuller’s opportunity for gossip, either.
In 2009, he began representing Sir Andy Murray and was with him through his Wimbledon and US Open wins, later helping him to establish his sports management business named 77 – marking Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s singles champion.
Fuller later brought Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton under his wing.
At the time, Lewis was in a high-profile relationship with Pussycat Doll singer Nicole Scherzinger (who later became a judge on Cowell’s The X Factor).
‘There probably isn’t anyone in the industry who knows as much as Simon,’ says a source. ‘It’s up to him to decide the secrets he keeps to himself – and those he doesn’t.
