For almost the whole of the 21st century so far, Simon Cowell has held a place in the nation’s hearts as a painfully honest TV talent-show judge and canny music mogul. From finding fame on Pop Idol to creating The X Factor and putting together acts including One Direction – as well as falling in love with his fiancée, Lauren, and becoming a father to their son, Eric – he has been a constant presence in the UK’s national consciousness.
But now, for the first time, the star has invited cameras into his life away from the small screen for his new Netflix show, Simon Cowell: The Next Act. And in their first joint interview to promote the series, which doubles up as a reality show about life in the Cowell household and putting together a new boyband, Simon and Lauren give us a glimpse into their lives, saying that, despite their enviable transatlantic lifestyle, their day-to-day is no different from anyone else’s.
Watching the episodes was "like looking in a mirror", Simon, 66, tells hello! in this exclusive interview. "I thought: 'Yeah, this is exactly what our life is like.' It's a bit kooky, but at other times, it’s completely like other people’s lives.
© Cowell family"People bicker, they laugh, move on. The only stuff we left out was stuff that was boring. I mean, literally boring. All the interesting stuff was kept in."
Lauren – who recently legally changed her surname to Cowell from Silverman – says: "I really wanted people to see that, as a couple, we have everyday arguments and everyday struggles. The things we deal with as a family – and particularly as a blended family – are like a constant tightrope, and people can hopefully relate to that."
Festive family plans
When HELLO! speaks to Simon and Lauren, they are just about to fly off to Barbados with Eric, 11, and Adam, 19 – Lauren’s son from her previous marriage – for their annual Christmas break. And although they will be spending the holidays in bright sunshine, Simon says their celebrations are still traditional.
"We put up a tree, and then we have the same kind of Christmas Day as we would here – Christmas dinner, crackers, mince pies, the lot. We open presents around 1 pm. The only difference is that I then get to go on a Jet Ski before we watch a Christmas movie."
Fans of the famously acerbic TV personality may not be surprised to learn that buying a gift for a man whose fortune is estimated at £430m can be tricky. Indeed, Simon tells us that he would like someone to buy him a 10,000-year-old bear skeleton that he once saw in a shop.
© Cowell family"He is impossible to buy for. I actually stress about getting his gifts, so I have to be really creative and think outside the box. And he critiques the gifts, as you can imagine, although I've managed to be pretty good so far," Lauren says, adding that Simon is a good "present-giver" to her, Eric and Adam.
Losing Liam Payne
Simon decided to let cameras into his life to show every angle of the process of putting together a band. "I've never shown this much before," he says. "Of course, there are moments where you're just talked out, and there were a couple of ultra-sensitive things where we weren't going to walk in with a film crew. But other than that, they were everywhere; I just got used to it."
The cameras also captured Simon’s emotional reaction to the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne, who fell from a balcony in Buenos Aires in October 2024 at the age of 31.
Simon was so devastated that he considered scrapping filming before going away to the SHA Wellness clinic on his own to reflect. After thinking about what to do with the 16 finalists who had auditioned for the band, which eventually became a seven-strong group called December 10, he decided to carry on.
© Getty ImagesHe adds that losing Liam was the hardest thing he had faced, aside from the deaths of his mother and father. "It stopped me in my tracks. I'd seen Liam a year before and he looked really good, which made losing him even more shocking," he says.
"We agreed we should do it more often because I was very close to him, and I considered him a friend. [His death] just shouldn't have happened. That's all I can say. I was heartbroken. Unfortunately, we lost him way, way too soon."
Liam Payne's death just shouldn't have happened. That's all I can say. I was heartbroken. Unfortunately, we lost him way, way too soon.
Does Simon wish that he had offered Liam some advice during that last meeting? "I don't know what I could have said. I did talk to him about music and said it was 'not the only thing you should think about in your life. You've got to a point where you're financially secure, you've achieved so much and you should be so proud of that. And most importantly, you've got a little boy [his son Bear, now eight].'"
Next chapter with Lauren
The cameras also captured the moment when Lauren told Simon that she was officially changing her name from Silverman to Cowell; although they got engaged in 2021, after eight years together, they are not yet married.
"I didn’t actually know they were filming that, by the way," Simon says. "We'd been together for so long – and thank God we're still getting on – and we are going to be together forever, so it made sense."
© Cowell familyLauren adds: "It was a joint decision that we first talked about a couple of years ago, around the time when Adam was graduating from high school. The reason I kept Silverman all those years was for Adam, but he’s nearly 20 now.
"We’re engaged, so the plan is that we’ll get married eventually, but changing the name wasn't a big, dramatic thing. We both felt it was time; it’s really about the unit of our family. I just didn't feel as though I wanted to keep my ex-husband's last name any more. I would love to get married one day, but I'm not focused on that piece of paper."
© InstagramThe Netflix show is the first time that the couple have teamed up professionally. "It was fun working with Lauren on it, because she loves music and was really interested in this project," he said.
"She hadn’t actually seen me work with a band from the beginning, so I thought it would be interesting to show her and Eric what I used to do years ago, when I was working with Westlife or Five or groups like that. Eric, in particular, was completely starstruck, and the boys [from December 10] were very sweet with him as well."
For Lauren, starring in the show meant stepping away from the private persona she has cultivated since falling in love with Simon. "My priorities have always been and will remain my children and being Simon's partner," she says. "But I have a lot of things I would like to do. I'm at the point in my life where I feel as though maybe this is my time to focus on something a little bit different.
"I would like to really focus on my partnership with the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity [Lauren is an ambassador for the organisation, while Simon is its patron]. I'm approaching 50 and I feel really good about where I'm at in my life."
Simon Cowell: The Next Act is streaming now on Netflix
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