Simon Cowell is opening up about his second electrical bike (e-bike) accident and the toll it took on his physical and mental health. The X Factor creator, 62, revealed that he suffered “long-term nerve damage” as a result of his two collisions and is now “very careful” with the physical activities he chooses.
Back in August 2020, Cowell fell off a bike in Malibu and broke his back in 3 different areas. After this, he required a 6-hour surgery for his injuries. Almost a year later, Cowell was spotted riding an e-bike in May 2021. The iconic American Idol judge fell off his bike in another incident on January 27 of this year, near his West London home where he broke his arm, lost a tooth and again headed to the hospital.
According to The Daily Mail, Cowell, father to 8-year-old son, Eric, said that he “kept a lot back” at the time of the second incident, didn’t want to talk about what happened, and explained that what he truly endured was “much worse” than the public might have thought. Cowell detailed more about his accident with Ok! Magazine; “I didn’t talk about it much at the time. I kept a lot back. It was a lot worse than people thought. I had a lot of long-term nerve damage as well. Just when I though the bones had healed, I went with Eric to a funfair and tried to kick a football and it was agony.”
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He continued, “But at least now I can actually play football with Eric. If there was one good thing about lockdown, it was that it gave me the time to heal because I wasn’t working on a TV show. I was able to walk a lot and strengthen my legs. I know I was lucky to survive my back surgery. I have a lot of people to thank for my recovery.”
Cowell also told MailOnline that his son (who he shares with fiancée Lauren Silverman) is concerned about his bike-riding habits following his accidents, but he is taking time off them (not forever, however) and using more careful approaches to his rides. “I’m not getting off it! I always say that if you’re going to ride a bike then you’re going to fall off it at some point. It does come with the territory,” he said.
He admitted to the publication that he was “a bit of a nutter” after narrowly avoiding a fatal injury after not wearing a helmet during his second crash. Apart from the broken arm, Cowell also suffered facial cuts and a suspected concussion during the accident, in which he fell onto the hard ground while riding his bike at 20 mph.
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The television personality added that his intense run of bad luck, (including a Covid diagnosis) has ended and he has a more optimistic mindset for the future. “In one week I broke my arm, lost a tooth and then got Covid. All in a week. They say things happen in threes so hopefully I’m done now.”
