Simon Cowell ‘didn’t know how unfit he was’ before he broke back in freak bike crash

Simon Cowell has said he had no idea how “unfit” he was before breaking his back in a freak electronic bike accident.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge, 63, was hospitalised after falling off his electronic bike in Malibu in August 2020 and underwent hours of surgery as a result.

Detailing the accident almost three years on, the music mogul recalled how “painful” his injuries were and remarked that his lack of fitness affected his recovery.

Speaking to The Today Show, he shared: “It was painful, it wasn’t great. However, I was so unfit before the accident. I didn’t know how unfit I was until I had to do all this stuff afterwards.

“And I’m like, ‘My God’. Things like that, I believe, happened for a reason!”

Despite his long road to recovery, Cowell admitted that he hasn’t been deterred from cycling and said he’s “obsessed” with his electric bike.

He added: “I’m still going to stay on my bike, I’m obsessed with those things.”

Recently, the former X Factor judge shared the positive impact his accident has had on him and his lifestyle, explaining that it’s given him a “completely different outlook” on life.

He told The Sun: “I was so close to living the rest of my life in a wheelchair, it gives you a completely different outlook on life in a positive way.

“It hurt – trust me – when it ­happened, but good things happened off the back of it.”

Despite the pain, Cowell insisted that if he had to go through it “all over again” he would as it forced him to change his life for the better.

He continued: “Because I think breaking my back was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

“I didn’t know really how unfit I was until I had to start doing all the exercises. But I feel better today than I did three years ago when it happened.”