MINI-ME WHO’S MELTED HEART OF TV’S MR NASTYTHE
HE IS the little boy who has changed ‘Mr Nasty’ for good. Simon Cowell was 54 when son Eric was born — the result of a love affair with Lauren Silverman — and Cowell was worried he might not take to fatherhood, Alison Boshoff writes. But it has clearly transformed him. Gone are the ‘ultimate bachelor’ days when he would pose with supercars or on a yacht with his harem of girlfriends and ex-girlfriends. Now he is more likely to be found pushing a grocery trolley or just hanging out with his ‘mini-me’ son, who dresses just like him. Admittedly, Cowell has never changed a nappy, and he has staff. But Eric, now four, has changed his life. When Cowell was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month, Eric was front and centre at the ceremony. And Simon says his ‘dream’ is that Eric, named after his beloved late father, will one day take over his TV and music empires. For now, though, ‘everyone adores him’ . . .
May 2018 CASTING A SPELL AS HARRY POTTER
ERIC is a big Harry Potter fan, seen here crashing one of his father’s interviews dressed in a gown and carrying a wand.
‘He’s not a brat,’ Dad insists. ‘He says please and thank you. He’s kind. He cracks me up. And he’s so competitive!’
Feb 14, 2014 ARRIVAL
Eric PhiliP cowEll was born on Valentine’s Day in 2014. his proud father, who had made a transatlantic dash to lauren’s side when she went into labour, released this image to introduce him to the world. he reportedly whispered: ‘i’ve waited all my life for you’ to the newborn.
he was named Eric after Simon’s late father, with the middle name Philip in honour of close friend Sir Philip Green.
June 2018 >> PRIVATE JETS ALL THE WAY
off on holiday with his parents plus old flame Terri Seymour, her partner clark and their daughter coco, by private jet.
if things ever get serious between Eric and coco, then turn sour, Simon will offer advice ( he reached settlements with Terri and ex Mezhgan hussainy).
he told an interviewer: ‘i sat Eric down and said: “i’ll teach you three very important letters for when you get your first girlfriend: NDA.” ’ That’s Non-Disclosure Agreement.
August 2018 SHOPPING IN FANCY DRESS
HERE we see Eric — complete with Harry Potter glasses and a sword — out shopping with Dad and mum Lauren last month. Before Eric arrived, Cowell said that he felt he would have to marry Lauren, but now says he has learnt it is safest not to address the topic.
Lauren told a newspaper several years ago that the couple have considered having another child, or adopting.
August 2018 MY VERY OWN HOGWARTS CABIN
lET nobody say Eric is spoiled by his father, who’s worth £360 million, but he does have his own hogwarts cabin in the grounds of their home in Malibu, california. Posting this image of it online (pictured with lauren), cowell’s friend Amanda holden wrote: ‘No mummies allowed.’
This summer, young Eric joined Soho house, Meghan Markle’s stomping ground pre-harry. Dad bought him £925-a-year club membership so he could have a swim in london during the heatwave.
in lA, Eric is seen at Nobu, The ivy and Au fudge, a sort of Soho house for children, which is owned by actress Jessica Biel.
May 2017 AT WORK WITH DAD
AT THE age of three, Eric made his screen debut on ITV, followed by NBC’s season 12 premiere of America’s Got Talent (pictured).
He sat on Simon’s knee and obligingly pressed the red buzzer that judges use to dismiss the acts. ‘I’m sort of training him up,’ Cowell admitted last year.
Dec 2017 FUTURE’S SO BRIGHT I GOTTA WEAR SHADES
Here is Cowell with his mini-me on holiday in Barbados — and the boys are wearing matching mirrored aviators.
eric does seem to dress in clothes that echo his father’s rather limited wardrobe: black and white, denim jeans, the occasional leather jacket. And while Cowell concedes that he works long hours, he says his own father, who died in 1999, did the same thing and they still managed to have a good relationship. ‘I think I can have that with eric,’ he has said.
August 2018 BIG STAR, LITTLE STAR
ERIC was at the centre of Simon’s big day when he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month — proudly holding up showbiz bible Variety’s tribute to his father as he sat in his very own ‘director’s chair’.
Simon said in his speech: ‘I suppose one thing I was also thinking about today was who would have got a bigger kick out of this? My mum and dad.
‘And they’re not here, but I have a feeling they’re looking down and now I can look over to my son Eric and say: “Maybe one day you’ll get one of these as well.” ’
In an earlier interview he said: ‘I never inherited anything in my life, and everything I have I had to earn. But I think that’s what made me enjoy life more.
‘I want my son to feel he’s got to prove his own way and I would like to do what my dad did for me.’
May 2018 WHO’S THE BOSS?
HOW cheeky is Eric? When his father was being interviewed by good friend Ayda Field, Robbie Williams’s wife, the youngster ran rings around him. When Ayda asked Simon who the most attractive judge was, Eric piped up: ‘Me!’
Cowell envisages his boisterous boy (pictured in the interview) taking over his empire in due course. He said: ‘I would love him to take over. He’s really confident. I would do with him what my dad did. I’d have him start as an intern, learn the job.
‘The idea that one day he could be doing this or something similar, I would love that.’
May 2018 CRASHING AN INTERVIEW IN HIS PYJAMAS
WHEN his dad was interviewed by ex-girlfriend Terri Seymour for the American TV show Extra in May 2018, little Eric, dressed in his pyjamas, rather stole the show. Simon could hardly have looked prouder.
He told her: ‘Eric’s old enough now to be my buddy. We talk to each other all the time. We’re friends and he’s fun to be around.’
Terri’s daughter Coco is good pals with Eric and they holiday together with their parents.
Terri (left in cream dress with Simon, Eric and Lauren) — who dated Cowell for eight years — said: ‘We go on lots of playdates. Eric calls Coco his girlfriend, so it’s scary.’ When she was pregnant, she said she hoped she’d have a girl so that her child and Simon’s could date.
August 2018 COWELL: THE HOUSEWIFE YEARS
ONCE he posed up a storm in a £220,000 Bentley Azure, now he’s pushing Eric in a shopping trolley styled like a racing car. The final indignity?
Actually, Cowell looks perfectly happy with his lot as he wanders through his local grocery store in Malibu with his son.
At this point, in August 2018, he was taking a break between filming the UK auditions for The X Factor and America’s Got Talent.