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Simon Cowellis opening up about how becoming a dad changed his outlook on work.
In a new interview withThe Sun, Cowell, 63, sat down fora casual backyard chat about where his careerhas been and where it is going, and the X factor of his own life — his 8-year-old son Eric.
“If Eric hadn’t come along, God knows what would have happened,” Cowell said in the interview. “Before Eric, my life was 99 percent work. I was obsessed with it.”
Cowell shares his son, who was born in 2014, with fiancéeLauren Silverman. He is named after Cowell’s late father,with whom he was very closebefore his death.
“After I lost my mum and my dad, you kind of think you’re never going to feel that love again — that’s it. Then you have kids, and, though I never thought I would feel that way, it’s beyond your love for your parents,” he said. “It almost hurts how much you love them. Then you start thinking, ‘When he grows up, what’s his dad going to have done?’ I think about that a lot.”
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Before the birth of his son, theAmerica’s Got Talentjudge said he was “really unhappy.”
“Now Eric is around, I don’t work through the night anymore. If he hadn’t come along, God knows what would have happened. The thought of it — I can’t deal with that,” he said in the interview, getting emotional.
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Noting how he was burned out, miserable and unhappy, Cowell said he was consumed with the ratings battle between U.K. hitsThe X Factor— his own show — andStrictly Come Dancing, the competition.
When ratings slumped, he said he was “tearing [his] hair out,” but that changed when his son started to notice his habits and asked him about them.
“When he was about 2, he finally asked, ‘What are you doing in bed at 2 in the afternoon?’ And how do you explain, ‘These are my hours,’ " Cowell said. “I thought, ‘Okay, I’ve got to switch everything around.’ "
TheAmerican Idolalum noted that it was important to keep up with his son’s boundless energy — “They’re never tired. Ever,” he said — as he detailed that seeing the world through his son’s eyes gave him a new perspective on his work.
Sometimes, while making notes on his shows, Cowell said his son will join him. “And I watch him, and if he’s just not interested I think, ‘That’s not in the show’ and if he’s fixated on something, I think, ‘That’s definitely in the show.’ Honestly, he’s the best barometer,” he explained.
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“The idea of him being bullied? I couldn’t deal with that,” he said, adding that he is “100 percent” more sensitive to treating contestants with care. “With your kids, you just want them to be happy,” he explained.
Next up, Cowell will be working on a series of children’s books about imaginary animals with Eric.
The father-son duo announced in February 2020 that they had inked a publishing deal with Hachette Children’s Group for a seven-book series calledWishfitsabout these “magical and unusual” creatures,Deadlinereported.
“It’s been brilliant,” Cowell said of the project. “I never thought I would do something like this.”
source: people.com
