Simon Cowell has announced he is already on the hunt for the next One Direction – but they must be Latino.

The X Factor impresario declared that auditions were opening for his latest venture, a television talent show to find an all-Hispanic boy band called La Banda or The Band in English.

Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell (PA)

He tweeted the news in English and Spanish after arriving in Manchester for the start of auditions for Britain’s Got Talent.

The new show is a collaboration between his firm SYCO Entertainment and Spanish-language network Univision and is to be shown in September on US television.

The music mogul tweeted:

Simon also revealed a new addition to his family, in the shape of a dog, tweeting a picture to his 11.3 million followers.