Ryan Seacrest: 'Simon Cowell is Jealous of my Success'

Ryan Seacrest believes Simon Cowell is jealous of his success.

The American Idol host --  who insists he enjoys a healthy, competitive relationship with head judge Simon -- claims the pop svengali is unhappy with his burgeoning career.

He said, "If anything in my life is positive in terms of business, Simon actually feels a pain in his stomach or his side. If we're in a restaurant Simon will get up and walk outside. He doesn't want to hear it. He does not want to be around if a good phone call comes in."

Ryan, 33, is also adamant he isn't bothered by Simon's gay jokes, adding, "I almost think it's strange that nothing bothers me, whatever the joke may be. I encourage it. Whatever it is - I'm short, I'm fat, I'm tanned. I encourage all of it, I don't mind at all."

Ryan -- who earns a whopping $12.5 million for fronting the Fox TV talent show -- is also keen to build his own media empire, like Simon has, and currently has lucrative contracts for presenting and TV production with E! Entertainment news television network, KIIS FM radio and American Idol.

Seacrest -- who has previously dated Terri Hatcher and TV actress Shana Wall -- admits he is a workaholic, a trait which has resulted in the end of several relationships.

He added to Seven magazine, "I don't mind hard work. You've got to work hard to generate something. I don't think there's any secret to success if you show up in the right place, at the right time and you put in a lot of time and effort and energy - you're going to get something out of it. It's not brain surgery."

Music mogul Cowell has previously admitted that he gets depressed when his friends enjoy success.

He said, "It's hard enough when it's someone you don't know who is successful.

"When it's someone you know it's 20 times worse.

"When I see friends on the show happy someone has got through I'm seriously puzzled."