SIMON Cowell has opened up about running riot as a child — revealing he was a “nightmare” who smoked and drank from the age of eight and was arrested for hijacking a bus at 12.
The music mogul, 63, who rebelled “terribly” after growing bored at school, was cautioned by police in Watford after pointing a pea-shooting gun at a terrified bus driver and demanding he drive.
He also revealed how he nearly burned down his family’s house after setting fire to the white beard from a Father Christmas costume while trying to prove Santa wasn’t real.
Simon, whose son Eric is now eight, told The Sun on Sunday: “I was so bad when I was Eric’s age. I was a nightmare. "I was drinking and smoking at eight, and I once nearly burned the house down. “I was trying to prove to my brother that Father Christmas wasn’t real, so I found the costume and set fire to the beard.
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