Simon Cowell Breaks Back testing Electric Bike at Malibu Beach Mansion

Since fracturing his back when he fell off his new electric bike, Simon Cowell is in hospital. The 60-year-old X Factor star was testing the e-bike in his Malibu, California home courtyard when he fell.

A spokeswoman said Mr Cowell, who was with his family at the time, injured his back and was taken to hospital.

He had to have surgery but was “doing fine”, she said.

It is understood that he may have bought the bike as part of an exercise drive after a previous fall in 2017.

He has been pictured on bike rides with his partner, Lauren Silverman, 43, and their six-year-old son, Eric close to their US home in recent months.

“Simon has broken his back and is having surgery this evening,” the star’s spokeswoman said on Saturday.

“Simon had a fall from his bike, testing his new electric bike in the courtyard at his house in Malibu with his family. He hurt his back and was taken to hospital. He’s doing fine, he’s under observation and is in the best possible hands.”

It is understood the surgery started on Saturday evening Los Angeles time. The surgery took six hours and came within millimetres of damaging his spinal cord, it was reported last night. He had a metal rod inserted into his back during the procedure.

He will be absent when NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” kicks off its run of live shows beginning Tuesday and Wednesday, the network confirmed.

In interviews, the music mogul said he’d lost 60 pounds in recent years after adopting a diet and fitness regime after falling down his Kensington home stairs.

He told the Sun after the accident: “We often get a reminder that we are not invincible and that was definitely mine. This was a huge surprise.

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See Tweet

And a massive thank you to all the nurses and doctors. Some of the nicest people I have ever met.
Stay safe everyone
Simon.

— Simon Cowell (@SimonCowell) August 10, 2020

“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.”

He blamed the accident on his “vampire” lifestyle, which saw him staying up until 8am and said that he would change his ways as “I am a dad and have more responsibility than ever.”

After the fall he reportedly bought two 28mph battery-powered bikes worth more than £2,000. He kept one in London and took one to the US with him, it was said. It is understood that he had only just bought the model which he was riding when he fell.

As well as warnings that they do not provide the same level of exercise, there have been safety concerns over the use of electric bikes for those who are not used to them.

When they first became popular in the Netherlands it was warned that more people were being killed every year riding an e-bike than a moped with the elderly at particular risk.

Egbert-Jan van Hasselt, who heads the Dutch police road safety unit, warned: “The e-bike is not a regular bike. It gives you an extra boost, and that sometimes happens unexpectedly. As a result, you can tremble, swing and sometimes even fall.”

Mr Cowell’s accident comes just a month after it emerged that he has bought Sony Music Entertainment’s stake in TV programmes including Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor.

The move sees the music mogul gain ownership of all the international versions of The X Factor and Got Talent programmes.

The Got Talent format is airing in 76 markets, while The X Factor is broadcasting in more than 130 countries. The share of the venture in Sony Music has been transferred to Syco Entertainment, a company owned solely by Cowell.

Thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, production on the next stage of this year’s UK’s Got Talent was delayed but ITV said it plans to continue the programme later this year.

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