Simon Cowell, known for his tough exterior as the judge on America’s Got Talent, has shared a deeply emotional moment, opening up about the overwhelming grief he experienced following the loss of both his parents. During an interview on The Diary of a CEO podcast, Cowell reflected on the immense pain he felt after losing his father in 1999 and his mother in 2015. His father’s sudden passing from a heart attack left a deep, lasting wound, one that Cowell says he would have traded all of his career successes to reverse. “I would’ve swapped everything I’d succeeded, you know, to [have] kept him around,” Cowell admitted, his voice cracking with emotion.
The AGT judge described his parents as not just his parents, but his “best friends,” making their deaths incredibly difficult to cope with. Cowell admitted that after losing his mother, he spiraled into a phase of deep sadness and dissatisfaction with life. “I was desperately unhappy,” he shared, noting that his intense workaholic tendencies only deepened the darkness he felt. For years, Cowell would work through the night, only to wake up in the afternoon, addicted to the fast-paced, all-consuming work culture he had created for himself. “I just loved the intensity,” he explained, even though it led him to a point where nothing seemed to matter anymore.
However, everything changed when he received the life-altering news from his fiancée, Lauren Silverman, that she was pregnant with their son, Eric, in 2014. Cowell described the moment as a turning point, one that would bring him the happiness he had long been missing. “It changed everything in my life. It made me happy again,” he said, his eyes welling up with emotion. He was quick to add, “Without question, without question, Eric saved me.” His son’s birth marked a new chapter, one where love, family, and purpose took precedence over the relentless pursuit of career success.
Looking back on that period, Cowell confessed that his memories from that time were blurry, as he had reached a point where nothing else seemed to matter. But the joy his son brought him reminded him of the important things in life. Cowell recounted a special moment when Eric watched The Jungle Book for the first time, and he couldn’t help but be moved by the happiness his son exuded. It was in that moment that Cowell felt the full circle of his emotional healing, recognizing the pure, childlike joy that had so profoundly impacted him. “The joy he had watching that film reminded me of my own childhood,” Cowell said, calling the experience “perfect” and “brilliant.” Through Eric, Cowell rediscovered the beauty of life and the deep love he had once thought lost.
In sharing these deeply personal revelations, Simon Cowell has shown a vulnerable side of himself, one that contrasts with the sharp, no-nonsense judge persona audiences are familiar with. It’s clear that the birth of his son Eric was not just a new chapter in Cowell’s family life—it was a moment that restored his sense of self, helping him heal from grief and rediscover happiness.
