There has been much hoo-ha over Simon Cowell’s comments about a circus act that appeared on Britain’s Got Talent.

Circus owner Gerry Cottle claims his act, involving seven performers riding one bicycle, was cut to 20 seconds, with a corny old circus tune replacing the contemporary backing music.

Simon Cowell told the troupe he didn’t like circuses, prompting Mr Cottle to question why producers invite circus acts on to the show.

Not being a circus fan either, I’m not particularly bothered. What did get under my skin was a comment Cowell made on the same show, which slipped by un-noticed. Giggling at a bizarre interpretation of Hamlet, he uttered the words “I hate Shakespeare”.

Like him or not, (I don’t, as it happens), Cowell wields a lot of influence as puppet-master of prime time Saturday night telly, and a large chunk of his viewing audience are children. Given his Mr Nasty persona, albeit a cartoon-like one, we expect him to make cutting remarks about the lambs lined up for slaughter at BGT or X Factor auditions and often he’s right, particularly when telling deluded wannabes they’ll never get beyond a pub karaoke machine.

But in dissing Shakespeare, he crossed a line. This is a man who claims to celebrate British talent, yet with one throwaway comment dismissed possibly the greatest Briton of all.

When it comes to laying bare the human condition, in all its glories, horrors and complexities, nothing touches the works of Shakespeare. Written more than four centuries ago, his plays remain startlingly relevant – power, love, jealousy, revenge, madness, sex, murder, family feuds, cross-dressing – it’s all there. The Bard was churning out rom coms, thrillers, historical dramas and soap operas before they’d been invented.

Shakespeare is an essential part of the school curriculum. If all he inspires in schoolchildren is a yawn, that says more about the way his work is taught than the text itself. Never mind school trips to ski slopes and theme parks, every child should see at least one Shakespeare play. Done properly, it’s never forgotten – I still remember, aged 14, being awestruck by Robert Lindsay’s tortured Hamlet clambering over scaffolding at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.

A blood-soaked production of Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare’s brutal revenge tragedy, at London’s Globe theatre is so graphic audience members have reportedly been fainting. A colleague saw it last week and, clearly animated, has been telling me graphic details. “It was incredible!” he gasped.

Theatre aside, many expressions we use in daily life can be traced back to Shakespeare’s pen.

So when it comes to Simon Cowell, I’ll let Shakespeare have the last word. He sets my teeth on edge.