COWELL RUSHED TO HOSPITAL AFTER
Judge suffers back and neck injuries and looks set to miss tonight’s first live show
SIMON Cowell was rushed to hospital yesterday after fainting and falling backwards down a flight of stairs.
A pal said the exhausted X Factor mogul, 58, had been to make some hot milk to help him sleep and hurt his neck and back in the tumble at his west London home.
His security called 999 and onlookers saw him being stretchered out in a neck brace. Speaking as he gave the thumbs up back on his doorstep later, Cowell said: “I fainted and fell down the stairs. I’ve got a bit of concussion but I feel better now.”
But the drama came a day before the first live X Factor shows and insiders said he was “95 per cent certain” to miss tonight’s programme after being ordered to rest and try to return on Sunday.
Cowell would only say: “I’ll be back but I don’t know about tomorrow.”
He suffered his fall at 7.30am and following scans at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, he was told no bones were broken and released at 3pm.
A friend said: “Simon went to watch Little Mix and came home and went to bed. He dozed for a few hours but was struggling to get to sleep as it has been a stressful week with the live shows on his mind.
“He went downstairs to make some hot milk to try to get back to sleep and then fainted as he was walking back up. He fell backwards and the stairs are made of metal and wood so he is really lucky he didn’t do some serious damage.
“Doctors couldn’t find anything wrong so it just seems like he was exhausted and overworked and needed some rest.”
Cowell normally uses private doctors and this was the first time in years he had been to an NHS hospital as a patient. He later told a pal: “The NHS doctors and nurses were fantastic. They really were amazing.”
The X Factor supremo was due to attend dress rehearsals yesterday at the LH2 Studios in west London.
His acts were supposed to be going up against Nicole Scherzinger’s.
But it is thought bosses will now change this to tomorrow night’s show and let Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh’s acts slug it out tonight.