Simon Cowell has described how fatherhood has changed his judging style, because he now understands how it would feel if it was his son auditioning. The 56-year-old returned to the judging panel of ‘America's Got Talent’ last week and he’s currently gearing up for the next season of the UK’s ‘X Factor’.

Simon Cowell and Lauren SilvermanFatherhood has softened Simon Cowell’s judging style.

Speaking to People Cowell said: “There's no question when you actually have a kid, it does make you feel different because you understand how you would feel if it was your son up there." Cowell and partner Lauren Silverman welcomed son Eric (named after Cowell’s father) in February 2014.

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"I'm very conscious that the kids who audition for AGT want to be there, they're not being pushed into it, and that they're having a great day out, otherwise we wouldn't see them,” he continued. But Cowell also maintains that he was often edited to appear more nasty than he really was.

"I think X Factor and Idol were edited so that I was always seen as this bad-tempered, miserable whatever – which of course I am at times, but I'm not like that the whole day!" he said. "But on AGT there are so many feel-good moments that they show those more than me ripping people to pieces because they are rubbish."

Although Eric is just over two-years-old, his father says he’s already showing many of his same characteristics. "He's exactly like me when I was younger, he's so cheeky, and he knows how to get me wrapped around his little finger," Cowell said.

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"When it's time to go to bed, the bottom lip comes out and it's like, 'Just one more minute, just one more minute, I want to watch Toy Story! I want to read a story! He's very, very, very funny. He really cracks me up."