Simon Cowell says horror cycle smash in 2020 was wake-up call that transformed his fitness

SIMON Cowell told how his horror cycle smash in 2020 turned out to be a wake-up call that helped him transform his fitness.

He had six hours of surgery after breaking his back falling from his electric bike.

But he says the accident showed him how bad his fitness had become.

He was late becoming a dad and said: “I always worried, ‘How on earth am I going to keep up with Eric?’

“But weirdly when I broke my back, it was like it was meant to happen — because I realised in my recovery that I was not as fit as I thought I was.

“I didn’t realise that I actually hadn’t walked for 20 years.

“I thought I was a fit person, but I was really, really, really unfit.

“And so while it was bad when it happened, I feel better now than I did before the crash.

“And I’m just about managing to keep up with Eric.”