Simon Cowell Looks Lean Following Astonishing 60-Lb Weight Loss Journey

Dec 02, 2022 by apost team

Notorious talent-show judge Simon Cowell, 63, now has a new lease on life thanks to a strict, healthy lifestyle he follows, which includes regular exercise and a well-balanced, nutritious diet. 

The singing and talent judge has been famous for his work on shows such as “American Idol,” “The X Factor,” “Britain's Got Talent,” as well as “America's Got Talent.” He is often known to make headlines with his blunt and controversial comments as a talent show judge, sometimes including insults and even wisecracks at the contestants' expense and their singing abilities. However, Cowell's harsh criticism has paid off, as he has brought together groups such as Fifth Harmony and Il Divo.

This time, instead of raving about his sometimes harsh criticism, fans are in awe over Cowell's weight loss. Now 60 pounds lighter than at the beginning of 2019, the music mogul credits a health scare from just a few years ago for pushing him into making a healthy change.

After a bike accident, Cowell had to recover from some injuries, but resilient as he is, Cowell was ready to jump back into life after healing from the accident. He also consulted with professionals to ensure he was making the right choices.

Cowell has continued to make his health a priority and has worked hard at changing his eating habits, proving to be very successful in his weight loss journey. His partner, Lauren Silverman, has also noticed this change. Read on to learn more about what Cowell is up to these days and how his new outlook on health has changed his life.

Simon Cowell was born on Oct. 7, 1959, in Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom, to a middle-class family. The biography section on his website reports that after dropping out of school at 16, his mother, Julie Cowell, helped him find a job in the mailroom for record label EMI, where his father, Eric Cowell, served on the board of directors. Cowell showed signs of having an excellent critical eye from a young age. When he was just 4 years old, he told his mother that she looked "like a poodle," wearing a white furry pillbox hat.

Cowell had a job as a post boy until he got rehired as an assistant in the record label. The new position gave him responsibilities for scouting new talent and helping the record label's artists with development. He left EMI in the early 1980s to form his own record label, E&S Music. When that did not work out, he formed another one, Fanfare Records, in 1985. But after four years, that company folded, too.

He was bankrupt and had to move back in with his parents. But Cowell says that he felt relieved instead of embarrassed from it, saying: "Everything went – my house, my Porsche, all the things I thought were important. I had nice food every night at home. I was quite happy, really." His next company enjoyed some success when it signed with artists like Curiosity Killed The Cat, 5ive, Westlife, and Robson and Jerome. Robson and Jerome's version of the Righteous Brothers hit “Unchained Melody” topped the best-selling singles in 1995. But it was his current label Syco Records, that catapulted him to becoming a multi-millionaire. According to celebritynetworth.com, Cowell has a net worth of $600 million, with houses in London, Malibu, and an apartment in New York. 

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The talent judge, who is notorious for his signature line "I don't mean to be rude, but…" (also the title of his book, by the way), has been on the panel countless times. For auditions that do not go so well, Cowell has never shied away from giving his most honest feedback. Some of his most brutal quotes ever documented include: "There is as much chance of you being a pop star or a rock star as me flying to the moon tomorrow morning for breakfast. It's never going to happen," and "If the judging criteria or the voting criteria here was to vote people through for managing to sing every note out of tune, you would win tonight."

But he has also said some things that are not so brutal but, in fact, rather sweet, like this one about his late mom, Julie Cowell: "I know I'll miss her every day, but I also know I'm incredibly grateful to have had her. She was an optimist, my mum, and I think I've got that in me as well."

In 2017, Cowell was rushed to the hospital after fainting on the stairs in his home while getting a glass of milk during an insomnia spell. According to The Sun, he was diagnosed with low blood pressure and, as a result, lost the first two days of live filming for “X Factor UK.”

"Sometimes we get a reminder that we're not invincible and this was certainly mine. It was a huge shock," Cowell told The Sun at the time.

He continued, They think I fainted because I had low blood pressure and so I have got to really take good care of myself to sort that out. After all I am a dad and have more responsibility than ever."

Cowell blamed his unhealthy eating habits and irregular sleeping patterns for the incident and decided he needed to make a change. After consulting with a doctor friend, he cut out sugar, wheat, dairy, meat, and fish from his diet. "Within 24 hours I changed my diet and I've not looked back since," Cowell told The Sun in 2019. "You feel better, you look better.

"I cut out a lot of the stuff I shouldn't have been eating and that was primarily meat, dairy, wheat, sugar — those were the four main things," Cowell added.

Cowell admits that the change to a plant-based, holistic diet did not come easy to him, as some of his favorite foods included "jam tarts, hamburgers, and spaghetti Bolognese." However, after making a few intuitive switches like almond yogurt instead of dairy in the morning, or almost no milk for his tea, he realized that it wasn't as difficult as he first thought.

Cowell told The Sun: "I have more energy and focus and it wasn't difficult. I don't like to use the word diet because that's the reason I never went on a diet before — the word diet makes me miserable."

"My memory's better, my energy's better," Cowell told Metro. "And when you've got a five-year-old you've got to be able to keep up with them because the minute they're awake they're all over the place."

Speaking to Ellen Degeneres on her show, Cowell talked about how happy he was that he could now keep up with his son. 

"His energy is unbelievable. When he wakes up he's like, 'Daddy, daddy, daddy,' and before he goes to sleep, 'Daddy, daddy, daddy.' So I was conscious of the fact I have to keep up with him energy-wise and someone recommended this as the way to go. I tried it and I stuck to it, it's one of the easiest things I've ever done." 

In 2020, Cowell told Extra TV that he had lost 60 lbs since adopting his plant-based diet. With the ongoing pandemic having people spending more time home than ever, he said that quarantine has made it easier for him to continue his healthy lifestyle. "I'm doing a bit of cooking," Cowell shared, adding, "I'm exercising. Funny enough, more during this time as well, sticking to the diet." 

Famous media personality or not, Cowell still has an Achilles heel; his son's pizza cravings can do wonders for tempting the business mogul. "That's the number one thing I miss," he said. He recalls in an interview with The Sun: "The hardest thing was when we were skiing and Eric ordered a pizza. I stared at the pizza for three minutes then I thought, 'Oh God, I can't do it'. And I didn't." Cowell, however, admitted that he stayed strong and avoided cheating on his diet because he does not want to fall into a trap again with an unhealthy lifestyle. 

In August of 2020, Cowell was rushed to the hospital after falling off a new electric trail bike in his Malibu home backyard, breaking his back. According to BBC News, the music mogul has since undergone many medical procedures, including the installation of a metal rod in his back. Some days following the accident, Cowell reassured fans by tweeting an update on his condition. He wrote:

"Some good advice... If you buy an electric trail bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time. I have broken part of my back. Thank you to everyone for your kind messages."

The accident had left him bedridden for months, and because of his injuries, he was forced to miss out on the return of his series "America's Got Talent." In an interview with ET, he recalled, "The first four weeks were the hardest, because you feel kind od helpless, and it was the first time in my life I've felt helpless."

In an interview with Extra, he said has his wife and son helped him immensely through the difficult time.

"The hardest thing was, and I said this to Lauren when I came out of the hospital ... I was so embarrassed about coming home looking about 100 because I couldn't walk, and I have these metal rods in my back and these screws..I said, 'Lauren, I just don't know how to explain it to Eric.' She obviously said something to him because he came in...and I was lying in bed and he said, 'Daddy, you're like Ironman,' and I thought that was the sweetest thing and it meant a lot."

Cowell further added that despite the pain, his injury led him to live healthier. He made profound lifestyle changes and started treating his body better than he had before the accident. "I'm much healthier now that I was a year ago because of this back injury. One of the things you've got to do is so much exercise, to kind of, like, heal. So I have to walk, like, five, 10 miles a day, so I actually feel better than I did a year ago."

The most challenging part of the recovery for Cowell was "the helplessness" he felt. He said:

"I've never been in this situation in my life where you literally can't move. the pain. was off the charts...But you've got to stay positive...I made a promise to myself I'd be fitter than I was before I had the accident. Sure enough, that's what happened."

After his bike accident, Cowell, who was at the time following a vegan diet, changed it again to include meat. Although Cowell was dedicated to his recovery, Cowell couldn't sacrifice his love for water sports. Only four months after his surgery, Cowell was spotted jet-skiing in Barbados in December 2020. The Daily Mail reported that Cowell had spent the holidays in Barbados with his partner, Silverman, and their son, Eric. The family was spotted enjoying themselves at the beach and going on jet ski rides.

Cowell and Silverman were photographed holding hands regularly as they strolled along the beach as the sunset over the island. Cowell showed off his slimmed-down body as he enjoyed the beach day topless, while Silverman flaunted her figure in a black and white swimsuit. According to HELLO! Magazine, Cowell owns a luxury villa in the Caribbean country and often goes on retreats there.

On different occasions, Cowell was spotted in Malibu, California, with his son, Eric and his partner, Silverman. He was also spotted riding an electric bike without a helmet in Montecito, California. The TV mogul seems to have recovered wonderfully.

In April 2022, The Sun reported that Cowell had lost four inches off his waist. Cowell has also vowed to cut out sugar, dairy and gluten from his diet, as he believes his new diet helps him stay younger-looking. “Cutting all that out is what has made a difference, genuinely,” he shared.

For those questioning if Cowell really lost the weight on his own, he said, “The diet I had then… phew. And everything thinks I’ve had a gastric band – I haven’t.”

He told The Sun:

“Look, I will tell you what I did. I did see a doctor in Harley Street. He specializes in a certain kind of diet. He did my blood work and pee and all the rest of it, and a month later the results came in and his words were, ‘You have the worst diet out of all the clients I have ever seen in my life — you have a schoolboy’s diet from the 1960s.’”

From that point on, Cowell’s doctor sent him a list of what not to eat, and he claims he has “pretty much stuck to it” ever since.

The outlet also reported that following an excursion Cowell had with Silverman, Silverman said that she thinks her partner weighs less than her! Cowell and his fiancé are definitely one good-looking and happy-looking couple!

What do you think of Simon Cowell's healthy lifestyle change? Let us know your thoughts, and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!