He has been on Shark Tank for 10 years, and in that time Kevin O’Leary has cemented himself as quite the TV villain — however, he’s completely fine with that.

“The show has won four Emmys but this award has a special place in my heart because it’s hard to be loved this way,” the 64-year-old joked exclusively to Closer Weekly after winning the award for Best TV Villain at the 6th Annual Reality Television Awards. “My attitude is that there’s nothing wrong with being the antagonist if you’re telling the truth and I get back a bad rep on Shark Tank because I’m the only shark that tells people the truth — everybody else is worried about their feelings; I’m worried about their money.”

Kevin O'Leary
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You see sharks saying, ‘Oh keep doing what you’re doing but I’m not going to give you a dime.’ What I say to them is, ‘Look the idea is really bad, you’re going to go bankrupt so you might as well deal with it now because you can’t fend off reality. It’s coming,'” the TV personality explained. “And I’ve been doing this for years and so as the Shark Tank has grown in popularity all around the world, I’m getting the mean guy [label]. Well no, I’m just the guy telling the truth and I think if that’s how it manifests itself, I’m honored to accept this award. I’ll tell the truth forever.”

“First of all, this is the second time I won this award. I was wondering why did I lose it for four years in a row, what happened?” the Canadian businessman continued. “So it broke my heart. I want to be the top villain every year. This is hard work, this is not easy. I mean very very difficult.”

As for what Shark Tank fans can expect for its newest season, the 11th in its incredible run, Kevin had some tidbits to share. “It’s going through the roof in terms of the size of the deals. We used to do deals $50,000, now it’s millions and so I’ve never seen more million dollar deals,” the Cold Hard Truth author revealed. “I’ll tell you why though — Shark Tank has become a platform where you can launch businesses because millions of people see it – both when it airs and then in syndication.”

Kevin O'Leary
Getty Images

“You know what I love about Shark Tank? You see something that’s going to be a huge hit and you say, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?'” Kevin dished. “It’s such a simple idea and it’s so huge! I saw a 13-year-old kid this week with a brilliant idea and he got a patent on it — why the hell didn’t I think of that?

You will soon be able to see Kevin, as well as Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran at it again soon!

Reporting by Diana Cooper

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