Simon Cowell turned down $150,000 to judge a couple's sex life.

The 65-year-old music mogul was enjoying a meal in a restaurant when some fans came to compliment his work, and he was left stunned when the encounter took a bizarre turn with an outrageous request.

Speaking on the 'How To Fail with Elizabeth Day' podcast, he said: "I was in a restaurant and this guy comes up to me, and he said, 'I love your show.'

"Thank you very much. 'Will you take a picture?' Sure. 'This is my wife.' Nice to meet you.

"'Would you judge us having sex?'

"I'm like, 'Are you winding me up?' They went, 'No. We'll pat you.'

"It was a lot of money. I thought, 'Do I? No, I just can't do it.'

"It was 150 grand.

"It was just so bizarre."

Simon - who has 11-year-old son Eric with partner Lauren Silverman - said fans would ask him to be rude to them, as opposed to a photo or an autograph.

Asked by Elizabeth, 46, what people would ask Simon to say to them in the street, the 'Britain's Got Talent' judge replied: "People used to ask me to be rude to them.

"I mean, literally, they would come up and say, particularly in America, 'Would you be rude to me?'

"I'm like, no.'"

Despite his global success, Simon shut down reports that his fortune is worth £500 million and he feels uncomfortable around extreme wealth.

He said: "Oh God, it's not that. I'm not even close to that. I'm being serious, I'm not.

"Look, I'm not going to lie, I've made a bit of money, yes, but not that much!

"I've definitely got enough. I don't need any more. I don't yearn for what I thought I wanted a few years ago ... I did start to kind of mix with some of those people [who own yachts and private planes] a couple of years ago. I hated it."

The 'America's Got Talent' judge admitted he "always" panics about money.

Simon added: "I always worry about money because I think you have to in a way."

The star - who launched the careers of One Direction and Little Mix on 'The X Factor' - has an upcoming Netflix show, believed to be called 'The Midas Touch', where he hopes to find the next biggest boy band, and Simon said it was "one of the scariest things" he has done.

He explained: "What gives me the right to judge people if I'm not signing artists, for instance, at the moment?

"I thought, OK, I'm going to do something to create a band, very publicly ... to see whether I can do it again or not ... there [hasn't been] a band like One Direction or Little Mix for so many years, why not do it again?

"And honestly, it was one of the scariest things I've ever done.

"But I had to do it. I think I have [found the band]. I don't want to give it away."