Simon Cowell has said he received “the biggest telling off” from his seven-year-old son Eric when he returned from hospital following his electric bike accident.
The music mogul and Britain’s Got Talent judge, 62, took a tumble over his bike’s handlebars last week, while not wearing a helmet, during a ride near his home in west London.
He was subsequently pictured leaving the property with his arm in a yellow cast covered in doodles by his son, who he shares with fiancee Lauren Silverman.
Speaking to ITV News, he said: “The one thing, the only thing, that scared me genuinely was when I was coming back from the hospital knowing that Eric, my son, was waiting for me to tell me off.
“It was kind of like when I was a child I was afraid of going home when I’d done something wrong. It was literally that and I got the biggest telling off – ‘Daddy you didn’t wear a helmet’.
“So lesson learnt. It could have been a lot worse if I am being honest.”
Cowell said he does not remember much about the crash, but added: “It was actually quite boring. I was just cycling, not paying any attention, it was raining and I went round a corner and the wheels just went under me – and then I knocked myself out.
“Luckily there were some people around who stopped the traffic.”
The accident is his second on an electric bike, following a crash in August 2020 in the US which saw him break his back and undergo six hours of surgery which involved having a metal rod inserted.
However, Cowell said he intended to get back on his bike soon.
He said: “The irony is that part of my physio was cycling after my bike accident, so it’s like I was feeling pretty fit at that point.
“So I can’t wait to get back on my bike, if I am being honest with you.”
Cowell added: “I was saying this the other day, that anyone who has a bike, you are going to fall off. So I think I’ve learnt my lesson now.”
The music executive returned to London to film Britain’s Got Talent alongside Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams, with the show slated to return to screens in spring.
The judges were photographed attending auditions and posed for pictures on the red carpet outside the London Palladium in mid-January.
The ITV series was cancelled in 2021 due to the pandemic.