Simon Cowell Postpones 'X Factor U.K.' Auditions After Mother's Death
photo: Rex USA
Simon Cowell’s beloved mother, Julie Cowell, passed away Sunday at age 89, reportedly of a stroke. As a result, the first auditions of The X Factor U.K. Season 12 — which were set to tape this week in Manchester, England, with new judges Rita Ora and BBC radio personality Nick Grimshaw — have been postponed until further notice.
“They were due to start tomorrow [Monday] and carry on into Tuesday and Wednesday,” a spokesperson for Syco Entertainment told the press. “Tomorrow’s have been canceled, and we have not made any decisions beyond that.”
The Cowell family has released the following statement: “Today our beloved mum Julie passed away. Anyone who had met her would know what a truly special and kind lady she was. We are heartbroken and will miss her terribly, but she is now at peace.”
While Simon has yet to make any personal statement on social media about the tragedy, his brother, Tony Cowell, tweeted Sunday: “Very sad night tonight. We will all miss Mum so very much. She was the heart and soul of our family x”
Sadly, this is the not the first time that Simon, Tony, and their brothers Nicholas and Michael have experienced such a major loss: Their father, Eric Cowell, died in 1999, just as Simon’s career was taking off as the manager of massive British boy band Westlife. (Westlife scored their first No. 1 single on the very same day that Eric Cowell died.) Simon spoke frankly about his death of his father, after whom his son with girlfriend Lauren Silverman is named, in a teary 2010 Piers Morgan interview.
“I realized the first responsibility is you’ve got to look after your mum,” a choked-up Cowell told Morgan. “It was a horrible, horrible, horrible time… You believe everyone’s going to live forever. And they don’t. And all the stuff you think you care about, the hit records and stuff like that, it’s just meaningless.”
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