Simon Cowell Takes New Ride On Electric Bike Following Alarming Injury, Says Previous One Was ‘Crazy’

May 28, 2021

"America's Got Talent" head honcho Simon Cowell was in a bike accident in August 2020 that involved him falling off an electric scooter at his Malibu home. The accident was no small incident, leaving him with a fractured back in three places and requiring emergency surgery that lasted six hours.

Apparently undergoing a number of procedures and fusions, as well as having a metal rod inserted in his back, doctors said that the injury was bad but that Cowell was very lucky. Afterward, the entertainment hotshot went public about the accident and proceeded to warn others of the dangers of electric bikes. Specifically, he warned others by also poking fun at himself by stating on his Twitter: "Some good advice...If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time."

Following the surgery, Cowell was ordered to rest, so he took some much-needed time off at his Malibu home. He even had to take a hiatus from recording "America's Got Talent," as well as a Christmas special for "Britain's Got Talent." He's since recovered and appears to be doing well.

But now, less than one year following the accident, Cowell was spotted riding a different electric bike in Malibu, and considering the severity of what happened last year, it has people worried. Hoping to set the record straight, Cowell has spoken up about his new bike, assuring people that it's a much safer model than the one that caused him to have an accident. Let's take a look.

Simon Cowell's bike accident took place at his Malibu home and was the result of testing out a new electric bike, while his son Eric and his brother Adam were with him at the time. After being taken to hospital and receiving emergency surgery, Cowell was also forced to consider his lifestyle, which used to consist of work calls late into the night. Since then, he's taken on much healthier habits, as reported by the Daily Mail, which includes walking 40 miles a week as part of his road to recovery. A source told the publication, “Cowell hasn’t worn trainers as much as he does now for over 20 years." They went on to add:

“He feels fitter than ever before and is keeping to a normal routine rather than being on the phone until into the early hours of the morning."

But these positive changes are in contrast to the new concern that people have after seeing Cowell riding on an electric bike in the past week. However, the media mogul isn't concerned himself and has even spoken to TMZ to explain why his new bike is very different from his old one and that there's no cause for concern. He explained the difference between his old bike and the new one:

“First of all, I bought a crazy, crazy bike. Even though it's got pedals on it, the one I had the accident on, this is not what I would call an e-bike. The one I had was basically a motorcycle with an electric engine where you've gotta wear a proper crash helmet, leathers, don't be on the road, go off-road. So this thing was nuts."

In the same chat with TMZ, he added that he "didn't know how powerful it was until [he] got on it," before he went flying "six or eight feet" and "landed on [his] spine." In comparison, his new electric bike doesn't have anywhere near that kind of power. He goes on to say:

"So this one I was driving or riding on the weekend, it's a different kind of bike where you have to pedal and then you can put the power on gently. The other one, like I said, was more like a motorcycle."

It's good to know that Cowell's new bike is much less powerful than his previous one and that he's well aware of the dangers of his old one — to everyone's collective sigh of relief, it seems that Cowell won't be jumping on that kind of bike anytime soon! He even doubled down on his warning, telling TMZ:

"I would say to anyone who's buying an electric bike, buy one where you have to pedal, you put the power on gently. Don't get what I had before."

But despite staying away from high-powered electric bikes, Cowell did give in to another weakness of his — jet skiing. While talking to TMZ, he explained how over the holidays his surgeon had asked him to promise that he won't go on a jet ski. Cowell promised but admitted to sneaking in one day on the watercraft. 

He also spoke of a weird coincidence in which while riding his new e-bike last weekend he decided to go and buy some magazines and on the cover of Electric Bike Action magazine was the bike on which he broke his back. Perhaps it was a spooky omen to remind him to stay off!

Have you ever ridden an electric bike? What was your experience? Be sure to pass this article along to warn others of the dangers of high-powered e-bikes.