Simon Cowell was surprised Nick Cannon decided to quit 'America's Got Talent'.
Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman
The 36-year-old star announced he was standing down as host of the talent show earlier this month, but the rapper kept his decision to leave the programme close to his chest, which meant the show's 57-year-old executive producer and judge only found out "two or three weeks" before they started filming the new season.
Speaking to ET Online about Nick's departure, the music mogul - who has three-year-old son Eric with his partner Lauren Silverman - said: "I didn't know much about it - maybe I should have known more about it.
"I didn't know that Nick wasn't going to be on the show until about two or three weeks before we started filming, and no one told me about this stuff. Anyway, it happened. I spoke to him, I thought he was going to come back but he wasn't - then he was, wasn't - and then in the end, we decided to start filming without him."
However, the entrepreneur holds no bad blood against the 'Can I live?' vocalist - who has five-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan and five-week-old son Golden - because he was the only critic to be sent a bottle of champagne to congratulate him on the upcoming series.
He explained: "I mean, look, the point is that he was the first to send me a bottle of champagne on the first day [as a] congratulations, which interestingly, he didn't send to the others."
Simon has revealed he thought a prank was being played on him when he was told Tyra Banks was keen to replace Nick, and he believes the 43-year-old former model is settling in well.
Speaking about their new recruit, he said: "After one day, we get a phone call - Tyra Banks wants to meet. I thought I was being wound up to be honest with you.
"The hardest thing is when you're trying to replace someone who has been really good, and you don't want someone who's going to be the same kind of personality. She's funny, she gets it. From what I've seen so far, I think she is having a good time.
"She's a little bit traumatised."
Tagged in Nick Cannon Simon Cowell Lauren Silverman