Nigel Lythgoe is quietly grooming the heir apparent to his reality TV empire.
And not a moment too soon.
The “American Idol” producer, 63, is lucky to be alive after a stress-induced heart attack in 2003 and a burst appendix that took 15 feet of his intestines with it.
“This whole thing about, ‘Take it easy, you had a heart attack, you might die . . .’ I don’t have time to take it easy,” he tells The Post.
“I might go at any point now. So, I want to get as much done as I can!”
To help things along, the workaholic Brit has formed a production partnership with his oldest son Simon, 37. The duo’s third production, “A Chance To Dance,” debuts Friday.
The series — on the arts channel, Ovation — follows former Royal Ballet dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt as they find and train a new American dance company.
“It is much more of a challenge show than a competition,” Lythgoe says. “The natural way you audition for a company turns it into a competition, because you are in competition with other people to get in the company.
“So it is not a typical made-for-television competition show.”
The Lythgoes also worked together this summer on the E! series “Opening Act,” where aspiring musicians from YouTube vie for a supporting slot at an A-list concert.
“I naturally trust Simon, because I know his work in the past,” Lythgoe says.
“You get all of these resumes saying ‘I have done this or that’ and at least with my own son, I know what he has done.”
Simon, a father of three, served as a producer for six seasons on “Idol” and also worked alongside his father on “So You Think You Can Dance.”
“I’ve definitely been overshadowed by my dad,” he admits. “[It’s] very difficult. Also, that gene that makes you want to be on camera didn’t really translate to me. So, I am OK working behind the scenes.”
Simon, whose younger brother, Kris, is a theater producer, chose not to follow his father into the world of dance at a young age.
“I had tap shoes for a month when I was about 10,” he remembers. “But I always wanted to be a TV producer. As a kid my dad never encouraged [dance], because he always said, ‘Your career is over by the time you are 30.’ ”
When it comes to professional disagreements, “Honestly, he normally wins,” Simon admits.
“But he is also very reasonable. We are actually, very similar people. His opinion and my opinion 99 percent of the time will be the same.”
“The only thing he is actually better at than me,” Simon says, “is dancing.”
Lythgoe — who has yet to sign on for the upcoming season of “Idol” — has also become a master at coping with the pressures of overseeing some of TV’s most valuable franchises.
“The stress, of course, gets worse and tougher each year,” he admits. “[Work] used to be more fun than it is now.”
“Sometimes I don’t understand why I am sent out to defend 19 million viewers. People say, ‘Oh, ‘American Idol’ is over . . .’ We are still the No. 1 show on TV. What is wrong with people?”