Simon Cowell to search for next breakout band in new Netflix docuseries

By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter

Music mogul Simon Cowell is to search for the next big boyband in a new Netflix docuseries.

The man behind the success of One Direction stars in Simon Cowell: The Next Act, which sees him hold open casting calls before releasing the debut single of a new music group.

The 65-year-old announced he was launching a UK-wide search for a new pop group in June 2024.

He told the PA news agency at the time: “I would pray to find a band as good as One Direction and to find the records as good as they made, there are so many factors involved to make a band successful all over the world.”

Through Cowell’s production company, Syco Entertainment, which is known for Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor and The Greatest Dancer, the music mogul has helped to launch the careers of pop bands including One Direction, Little Mix and Fifth Harmony.

One Direction, comprising Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, were formed on The X Factor in 2010.

The boyband had hits with songs including What Makes You Beautiful and Best Song Ever, before going on an “extended hiatus” in 2016.

In October 2024, Payne died at the age of 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Argentina.

The new six-episode docuseries will stream on Netflix in December 2025.

The search was documented by a TV crew from Box To Box Films, the company behind Formula 1: Drive To Survive.

News of the show was announced alongside a slate of new unscripted series, including reality shows Let’s Marry Harry and Calabasas Confidential.