Simon Cowell says his son Eric will be a judge on Britain’s Got Talent in the future.
The music mogul and TV star let Eric push the golden buzzer alongside Amanda Holden’s daughter Hollie on the 2024 show, and in the future he thinks Eric will have an even bigger part to play considering the value he gets from watching the ITV series through his son’s eyes.
“I still run acts past Eric. I like watching him watch the show in real time. It’s fun and he likes it. He’ll be on the judging panel in a few years’ time. It’ll happen,” Simon, 65, shared.
Speaking to Heat magazine, the One Direction founder also admitted that becoming a dad had changed him as a person and a BGT judge. “Ever since I had a son, and then I start seeing those kids and every time I think ‘That could be Eric’ so to that point, that has really made an effect. Apart from that, it reminded me of when we first started making the show,” he said.
Simon said that he ‘runs acts past’ Eric already, and that he’ll soon take his place on the BGT judging panel officially (
Image:
ITV)
Speaking of the current series, Simon admitted that it was too early in the series for him to tip a winner. He said: “I see someone that gets a Golden Buzzer and think they’re going to win, then I see someone else and think they will win. It is really open this year and I just can’t predict it. I feel like it’s an incredible year and anyone can win. The main thing is we want to put a smile on people’s faces. That’s the best way of summing up what BGT is.”
While 11 years old might seem quite young to have a solid career path in place, Simon has planned for Eric to enter showbiz for years. Back in 2021, he revealed that he was training Eric up to take over his BGT role and massive music empire.
“Eric is a little me,” he said of the boy he shares with Lauren Silverman, adding: “I do say when he’s playing up a bit, I say to him, ‘Remember, daddy has already done all this’. I’m encouraging him to go into showbusiness.”
Simon has also opened up about his desire to encourage Eric to stay on the production side of things, after the pre-teen revealed his wish to perform on BGT in 2024. “He’s decided that he’s going to audition for Britain’s Got Talent. That is going to be total torture. I mean, of all the things I’ve ever done, this will probably be the hardest,” Simon revealed.
He added: “I said, because he does play drums, ‘Are you going to drum?’ and he said he wants to sing. I went, ‘Oh God no.'”
Speaking to The Sun, the dad-of-one added: “I think he wants to be in a rock band. He loves Green Day. He is really serious about it. I always promised him, ‘No, you stay on this side of the camera darling, stop.’ I don’t know what it is. Maybe because all of these kids are auditioning and now he wants to be up there with his friends.”
