Simon Cowell’s Childhood Wild Ride: From Fires to Bus Hijacks
Whoever said cowbells were plain old instruments clearly never met Simon Cowell as an eight‑year‑old. The X‑Factor mastermind, 62, spilled the beans about how he smoked, drank, and nearly set his house on fire before he could even grab a cup of tea.
Talks to The Sun (Oct 30)
- At the age of eight, him and a very young Eric were “nightmares.” Simon admits, “I was so bad when I was Eric’s age.”
- He was smoking and drinking, and there was an anecdote about how he almost burned the entire home down.
- He tried to prove a point to his brother: that Father Christmas was a fabrication by burning the magician’s beard costume. The blaze sparked out of the sofa, scaring the family into calling the fire brigade.
- He stole his dad’s car when he was ten, crashed it, and a few years later took a bus on a “pea‑shooting” gun—a childish hijack that led to his arrest at 12.
All About the Arrest
Simon says he misjudged the seriousness, thinking the driver wouldn’t call up the police. Turns out, that bus driver did just that. He claims his mom was furious on his return, and it’s clear his dad – often the more gentle one – never raised a voice in front of him.
Albert Einstein vs. School
He’s confessed to being a bright kid but disliked academic life to the point that he couldn’t see a future in medicine. His boredom threshold was so low that school kept “burning out” each time.
Present-Day Cowell
Despite the brief stint as a troublemaker, the former school “outlier” now proudly shares his trust in the moments of fatherhood and the partnership with his fiancée, Lauren Silverman.
