Simon Cowell reveals surprise friendship with Katie Piper

Simon Cowell is revealing his surprise friendship with Katie Piper and said she rejected his job offer when he got in contact after the release of her documentary.

The music mogul, 63, appeared on Wednesday's Loose Women where he was reunited with Katie, 39, who serves as a panelist on the ITV morning chat show.

He said he became friends with Katie after he got in contact with her following the 2009 release of her Channel 4 documentary Katie: My Beautiful Face, which saw her detail her 2008 acid attack.

But it wasn't all plain-sailing at first, as Simon admitted that Katie didn't believe it was really him contacting her when he tried to track her down to speak about her documentary.

Simon said he painstakingly tried to get hold of her before they finally met up, when Katie then turned down his job offer.

Recalling their meeting, Simon said: 'I saw her documentary and halfway through, you got the feeling it was going to end badly, that she was never going to leave her house again.

'I got so mad, I was phoning someone trying to get hold of someone from the show to get hold of her.

But Simon admitted their first meeting then turned into a longtime friendship, adding: 'It was the start of something amazing, the start of an amazing friendship.'