Simon Cowell Once Thought He’d Never Have Kids. Now Fans Can’t Believe How Much Eric Has Grown

Lauren Silverman’s Family Vacation Photos Show 12-Year-Old Eric Heading for the Ocean With a Surfboard

For years, viewers knew Simon Cowell as the talent show judge who was almost impossible to impress. At home, one of the people whose opinion he came to value most was his son, Eric. When Eric was three, Cowell was already calling him “a brilliant judge” and paying attention to which acts could hold his interest.

Now 12, Eric is a long way from the toddler who loved pressing the buzzers on his father’s set. In family vacation photos Lauren Silverman shared on November 1, he carries a checkered surfboard toward the ocean and walks along the beach with his older brother, Adam. Followers commented on how tall Eric had become and how much he resembled his father.

The pictures also bring to mind a story Cowell has told about himself. Long before he was rushing across the Atlantic to make it to the hospital in time for Eric’s birth, he doubted he would ever have children.

Simon Made It to the Hospital Two Hours Before Eric Was Born

Cowell was 54 when he and Silverman welcomed Eric on Valentine’s Day in 2014. By then, he had spent much of his adult life building a career in entertainment and had become a familiar face on American Idol and The X Factor. He once joked that the prospect of children drawing on his walls would drive him nuts. He also recalled thinking he might be too old to become a father.

When Silverman called to tell him their baby was on the way, Cowell was in London and needed to get to New York. He arranged a flight and reached the hospital about two hours before the birth. He later recalled crying when Eric arrived.

Within days, Cowell shared photos of his newborn son. In one, Eric rested against his chest. A few weeks later, the man who had once struggled to picture himself raising a child told Extra, “I was born to be a dad.”

Cowell later recalled on The Kelly Clarkson Show how quickly his feelings had changed when he saw Eric’s ultrasound. Seeing the scan, he said, was the moment he realized just how attached he already was. As he put it, “Now, I cannot imagine my life without him.”

Eric’s Name Honors the Man Who Helped Simon Get His Start

Eric was named after his paternal grandfather, Eric Cowell, who died in 1999. Simon had been close to his father, who supported him in the early years of his entertainment career. Naming his son Eric gave him a way to keep that connection present in his family’s life.

“I look at him, Eric, and I think of my dad all the time,” Cowell said shortly after his son’s birth.

Eric did get to meet his paternal grandmother, Julie. Cowell joked that she was so excited about her grandson’s arrival that she had probably told everyone in her village. Julie, a former ballet dancer who had supported Simon throughout his television career, died in July 2015 at age 89.

One of her gifts to Eric was a brown blanket. He remained attached to it after she died, and for Simon, it became a reminder of how excited his mother had been to welcome her grandson.

The Youngest Critic on Simon’s Talent Show Set

By 2017, Eric was accompanying his father to some television appearances. At The X Factor auditions in London that July, Cowell carried his three-year-old son, who wore a Rolling Stones T-shirt. On another visit, Eric was seen eating satsumas backstage while the show went on around him.

Eric was particularly interested in the acts on America’s Got Talent and loved getting a turn at the judges’ buzzers. Cowell noticed that when Eric enjoyed a performance, he often agreed with him. When Eric lost interest, Cowell paid attention to that, too.

As Eric got older, he developed interests of his own. He enjoys rock music and has taken an interest in playing the drums. He also likes soccer and spending time outdoors, an interest that comes through in the beach photos his mother shared.

After Simon Broke His Back, Eric Knew Just What to Say

In August 2020, Cowell broke his back while testing an electric bicycle at his home in Malibu. Doctors stabilized his spine with metal hardware, and the recovery kept him away from the start of that season’s America’s Got Talent live shows.

After leaving the hospital, Cowell worried that seeing him in bed would frighten six-year-old Eric. He told Silverman he was unsure how to explain what had happened. But when Eric heard that doctors had put metal rods in his dad’s back, he had a superhero in mind. “Daddy, you’re like Ironman,” he told him.

Cowell has said fatherhood changed the questions he asks himself when he makes decisions, including whether a choice is right for Eric. Silverman has also described how family life shifted his daily routine. He started getting up earlier and making more time for the ordinary parts of the day they could spend together.

At 12, Eric Is Finding His Own Interests

Silverman’s holiday photos captured the family away from the red carpet. Cowell, Eric, Adam and the family dogs all appeared in the collection. The shot of Eric with the checkered surfboard drew attention to how much he had grown, while other followers noticed the familiar features he shares with his father.

“Can’t believe how grown up Eric is. Gosh where does the time go,” one follower wrote. Another commented, “Son looks so much like his father. Lovely”.

For viewers who remember Eric’s first appearances, there’s a striking difference between the photo of Cowell carrying him into an audition and the one of Eric walking beside his brother on the beach. In the latest pictures, the boy who once reached for his father’s buzzer is old enough to carry his own board down to the water.