Simon Cowell sat down for an interview with Extra’s Terri Seymour recently to dish on his upcoming gig on America’s Got Talent. The American Idol alum has announced he will replace Howard Stern as a judge on the next season of the show. Stern announced last season that it would be his last.

20-month-old Eric Cowell was on hand for his daddy’s interview, and loved stealing the show. The little boy was teasing both Seymour and his father with a carrot Simon Cowell had given him as a snack.

“That’s my boy!” Simon Cowell said to Seymour. “When he just wants something, he’s like me. He says it over and over again.”

Something Simon Cowell had been wanting for a while was to serve as a judge on America’s Got Talent. Howard Stern’s exit was perfect timing.

“We’ve been talking about it for a few years, funny enough, me and NBC,” he said. ‘This year…everything worked. So it was perfect.”

Simon Cowell's son Eric adorably crashes interview with Terri Seymour https://t.co/RZpLAT0n9i pic.twitter.com/IQQWycZ3uW

— People magazine (@people) October 24, 2015

Seymour questioned if perhaps fatherhood has made Simon Cowell a more understanding judge. Surely everyone remembers how harsh he was at times as an American Idol judge.

“I’m not going to lie to people when I think they’re hopeless, I just couldn’t do that!” he said. “But no, of course I’m not going to be rude for the sake of being rude. That would be ridiculous. I’ll take it act by act.”

It sounds like maybe fatherhood has softened the curmudgeonly British chap. Could you imagine Simon Cowell having had the patience to humor a child–back in his early American Idol days?

Simon Cowell to REPLACE Howard Stern. Is there BEEF? (via @etnow) https://t.co/N3dpz6mNeT

— TMZ (@TMZ) October 23, 2015

That would have been a frightening situation–for all involved.

Lauren Silverman is little Eric Cowell’s mom. She and Simon Cowell learned they were expecting while Silverman was still married to one of Simon Cowell’s best friends.