What Happened to Simon Cowell? His 2020 Bike Accident & Health Issues, Explained

Simon Cowell is on the search for the next great boy band in his upcoming Netflix series Simon Cowell: The Next Act. And while this docuseries will mostly focus on his hunt, it will also give viewers a look inside his personal life like never before.

In recent years, Cowell has dealt with some health issues that stemmed from injuries he sustained in a 2020 bike accident. Scroll down for everything we know.

What happened to Simon Cowell?

In August 2020, Cowell was riding an electric bike near his Malibu home. He fell off the e-bike and broke his back, leading to a hospitalization and surgery.

“I knew I’d broken my back the minute I landed,” Cowell told Extra in February 2021. “It was really, really kind of sudden and it hurt.” However, he noted that it “could have been a lot worse,” as the X-ray revealed he was nearly paralyzed.

“I really nearly could have smashed my spine to pieces, so I literally wouldn’t have been able to walk,” Cowell reflected.

Even though “you’re not supposed to move” with an injury like this, Cowell somehow carried himself back to his bedroom. “I’m lying there and I’m kind of passing out,” he shared. “It was surreal.”

He eventually underwent a six-hour surgery to insert a metal rod and screws in his spine. The recovery took months. “I’ve never been in this situation in my life where you literally can’t move,” he explained. “The pain was off the charts. But you’ve got to stay positive. I made a promise to myself I’d be fitter than I was before I had the accident. Sure enough, that’s what happened.”

In February 2022, he broke his arm in a second e-bike incident in London. This time, his injury didn’t require surgery. “I was lucky, ’cause I nearly snapped the ligament. If you snap ligaments, then that’s bad,” he told Access Hollywood. “I’m fine. It was a stupid accident. It was just annoying mainly because I couldn’t ride my bike.”

What has Simon Cowell said about mental health?

Cowell has been open about his mental health struggles, particularly with depression that stemmed from his mother’s death in 2015 (he previously lost his father in 1999). “I was on a downward spiral at that point,” he said on the Diary of a CEO podcast in 2024.

“I felt like a clown because I’m dying inside, and yet I’ve still got to do what I’m being paid to do as best as I could,” he added, referring to his job on television.

Cowell started doing mental health therapy, crediting the COVID-19 pandemic as the “catalyst” for him getting professional help. “I wish I had done this 10 or 20 years ago…it’s like a weight has lifted off my shoulders,” he said on The Mirrors Men in Mind podcast.

Of his first therapy session, Cowell recalled, “I sat down really embarrassed and I said, ‘Look I just don’t know where to start.’ And within about 20 minutes, it was as if I’d known [the therapist] for 10, 20 years. He’d put me so much at ease, and you realize you’re talking to a professional, and they don’t judge you, they listen to you.”

Why does Simon Cowell wear red glasses?

Cowell suffers from migraines, especially when he’s filming long hours under bright lights. He revealed in a February 2024 Instagram post that this is why he often wears red tinted glasses when he’s filming a project.

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“His tinted glasses help a lot, however, unfortunately he’s been prone to migraines and the filming lights are particularly bright,” a source explained to People in 2024. The insider also noted that Cowell was in “fantastic health,” despite the occasional migraine.

Does Simon Cowell have a stutter?

Cowell revealed on a 2025 episode of the How to Fail With Elizabeth Day podcast that he has a “bit of a stutter,” noting that many people don’t know this about him.

“There are times when I just can’t get the words out for whatever reason, sometimes when I’m stressed,” he explained.

Simon Cowell: The Next Act, Wednesday, December 10, Netflix