Simon Cowell takes responsibility for starting terrifying Killer Clown craze that swept through the UK

SIMON Cowell claims he sparked the terrifying Killer Clown craze after his phobia was exposed on America’s Got Talent.

The music mogul, 57, says the freaky fad began when a clown act on the talent show left him horror-struck in June.

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Circus clown Richie the Barber shocked judges by appearing on-stage with a clown's face tattooed on his actual face, shortly before the phenomenon spread worldwide.

Simon said: “I think I started it - the whole killer clown thing. I had a phobia of clowns and on America’s Got Talent this year a clown came on and I freaked out.

"Then we ended the show, we didn’t know they were doing it and I get in my Rolls Royce and then the driver is a creepy clown.

So I’m responsible. I’m scared - I didn’t like them when I was a kid. They’re creepy."

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A short time later police began to report a swathe of incidents in the UK, with the Thames Valley Police on alert after a number of clowns were spotted, with further sightings reported in Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.

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Members of the public were left panic-stricken when clowns were sighted with baseball bats, knives and even chainsaws.

One man was left disfigured after a man dressed in a clown costume slashed his hand with a kitchen knife.

The trend even led fast food chain McDonalds to send its clown mascot Ronald into hiding.