Simon Cowell opened up on what it's like to join the judges' table on America's Got Talent.

In an interview with New York Times posted on Monday, the TV icon admitted that he was a little hesitant when he joined since it felt a little out of his comfort zone-- despite the fact that he's known for being a judge on reality competitions.

"I was really confident until I sat in the chair and you kind of go, 'Oh God, this is a big show here.' I'm used to being on big shows, but I'm thinking, 'I really hope this is going to work.' And for about 10 seconds, I felt nervous," he said. "And then this 83-year-old woman in a leotard came on and stood on her head and sang the national anthem and I said, 'You know what, I'm home.' And I never looked back."

Cowell also opened up on what it is about this particular competition that makes him so intrigued as it doesn't focus solely on one talent.

"As much as I like being on a music show, it does get a bit tedious when it's just singer after singer after singer," he said. "On this show- and of course we get singers on there- it's that surprise factor where literally a box will appear on the stage and you don't know what's inside the box or what the act's going to be."

The judge became a sensation with his honest-- and pretty brutal-- remarks on American Idol. He hasn't been part of that show in a long time and didn't even watch the last couple seasons.

"The first three or four years were genuinely probably the best three or four years of my life," he said about the series. "It was so much fun, so unexpected, we didn't know what was going to happen, the show just took off and became a huge hit and we were in the middle of something that we were making up every week. Then it all started to get a bit serious and Paula [Abdul] left and then it just wasn't the same to me."

The new season of America's Got Talent premieres on Tuesday, May 31 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Tags: Americas Got Talent television nbc Simon Cowell