He is starring in or working behind the scenes on no fewer than five television shows this year. And Simon Cowell's mother is terrified that strain will become too much for the 51-year-old. The TV supremo's mother Julie, 84, has begged him to ease up on his heavy workload, fearing he will end up suffering a heart attack like his father Eric.
Cowell, a heavy smoker, is gearing up for the US version of X Factor, which began running the first auditions this month, but is still working on his other shows too. He also has the original X Factor, both Britain's and America's Got Talent as well as a new game show, Red Or Black.
A source close to Cowell told the Sun: 'Simon's mum is freaking out. His family think he's doing too much and are telling him to slow down before his workload seriously damages his health. 'There's no point being the richest man in the cemetery. It's too much for one person.' Simon recently described his father Eric's 12 years ago as 'the worst day of my life.'
Speaking to Piers Morgan, Cowell said it was 'a horrible horrible time.' The former EMI executive succumbed to a heart attack in 1999 aged 81, while he was at home with Cowell's mother Julie. During a recent interview with Oprah, Cowell described filming the UK X Factor live shows in London and then going home to spend ten hours or more on conference calls to the US to plan the American version.
Recent reports suggested that he has been dragging his feet committing to appearing on the UK version this year. Just last month ITV's director of television Peter Fincham said: “It has to remain speculation. The X Factor is coming back and is back in the ITV schedule this autumn. Simon will be closely involved with it as he is always involved with it. 'Simon's a workaholic but he'd need a time machine to be physically able to appear on both the American and UK versions of X Factor, all of the time,' the source told the paper. 'His priority this year is the launch of the American version.' The US X Factor will debut in America in September, the same time as the UK version, while new show Red Or Black is scheduled to premiere around the same time.
Cowell, a heavy smoker, is gearing up for the US version of X Factor, which began running the first auditions this month, but is still working on his other shows too. He also has the original X Factor, both Britain's and America's Got Talent as well as a new game show, Red Or Black.
A source close to Cowell told the Sun: 'Simon's mum is freaking out. His family think he's doing too much and are telling him to slow down before his workload seriously damages his health. 'There's no point being the richest man in the cemetery. It's too much for one person.' Simon recently described his father Eric's 12 years ago as 'the worst day of my life.'
Speaking to Piers Morgan, Cowell said it was 'a horrible horrible time.' The former EMI executive succumbed to a heart attack in 1999 aged 81, while he was at home with Cowell's mother Julie. During a recent interview with Oprah, Cowell described filming the UK X Factor live shows in London and then going home to spend ten hours or more on conference calls to the US to plan the American version.
Recent reports suggested that he has been dragging his feet committing to appearing on the UK version this year. Just last month ITV's director of television Peter Fincham said: “It has to remain speculation. The X Factor is coming back and is back in the ITV schedule this autumn. Simon will be closely involved with it as he is always involved with it. 'Simon's a workaholic but he'd need a time machine to be physically able to appear on both the American and UK versions of X Factor, all of the time,' the source told the paper. 'His priority this year is the launch of the American version.' The US X Factor will debut in America in September, the same time as the UK version, while new show Red Or Black is scheduled to premiere around the same time.
