Music mogul Simon Cowell has finally explained his recent Britain’s Got Talent absence, revealing he suffered a fall that left him with a head injury
Simon Cowell has revealed that his recent no-show at Britain’s Got Talent auditions came after he fell down another set of steps – the latest in a series of mishaps for the long-time judge.
The 66-year-old music mogul missed the first two days of filming in Birmingham after the incident, leaving producers to call in Stacey Solomon to temporarily fill his place on the panel.
Cowell then later reappeared on the third day of auditions with a visible graze on his forehead, explaining only that he’d had “an accident.”
His absence was finally addressed during the show’s Blackpool auditions, when a choir made up of ambulance staff took to the stage. Amanda Holden joked: “I thought they might be here in case anything went wrong with you again because you were poorly last week.”
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Laughing off the comment, Cowell clarified what actually had happened as he finally shared the truth.
Speaking to the audience at the Winter Gardens, he said: “I fell down some steps, that wasn’t poorly, and I bumped my head, but I’m fine now.
“I wish you had been around a couple of weeks ago when I actually bashed my head. Seriously, no one sang for me then,” he added.
A show insider said the fall was a minor accident. They told The Sun: “Simon bumped his head when he stumbled on some steps. It’s the sort of thing that can happen to anyone. And, thankfully, he’s absolutely fine now.”
The timing of the incident, which occurred on October 1 and just a day before Birmingham auditions were due to begin, forced the show to cancel the opening session.
Rather than pause production entirely, Stacey Solomon was drafted in to maintain the four-judge panel, with Amanda Holden briefly stepping up as head judge.
Cowell later reassured fans via a short video, showing off the mark on his forehead and saying: “It’s Simon, I’m alive and I’m in Birmingham, I just want to say thank you for all your get well messages.”
It’s not the first time Cowell has been injured in a fall. In 2017, he was taken from his London home on a stretcher wearing a neck brace after tumbling down stairs just before The X Factor live shows.
Three years later, he broke his back testing an electric bike in Los Angeles, requiring major surgery and months of recovery.
Despite his latest setback, Cowell appeared in good spirits this week as he joined judges Amanda Holden, KSI, and Alesha Dixon on the red carpet for the Blackpool auditions.
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