Simon Cowell’s been showing a softer side of himself this year. In a letter that was published in the British paper the Daily Mail on Saturday, he spoke about the controversy surrounding this year’s Britain’s got Talent competition. “There has never been a spectacle quite like the latest series of Britain’s Got Talent. I, of course, am inevitably portrayed as the evil ringmaster. The time has finally come for me to set a few things straight. You just can’t imagine how awful it was, sitting in my judge’s chair, watching 10-year-old Hollie Steel start to cry in front of millions as she struggled to remember the lines of her song,” he wrote. “Oh God, it was terrible. So I decided to let her come back later in the show to sing again – ironically, I have had more complaints about Hollie being allowed to perform twice than anything else in the show.” Cowell admits he could’ve handled things better with Susan Boyle, too. “It has become clear to me that we didn’t handle the situation with Susan as well as we could have.” When her performance of “I Dreamed A Dream” was seen on YouTube millions of times, Susan skyrocketed to fame. “She seemed fine with the attention,” Cowell says, but adds when it came closer to the finale, “The pressure and her nerves were beginning to get the better of her. So I said, ‘Make sure she has a friend with her all the time. Make sure she has any help that she needs.’” Though she told him she was fine, Cowell relates that it was a “bad moment” for the Scottish singer when she lost to dance group Diversity. She’s missed a few dates on the Britain’s Got Talent tour, but Cowell says, “When she does perform, I am thrilled by the reception she gets. Whatever happens in the weeks ahead, I will continue to support her. Moral of the story?” he concluded. “I don’t always get it right.”