Simon Cowell is stepping away from the judges’ table.
The longtime "America’s Got Talent" judge will miss weeks of filming as he prepares to undergo a medical procedure related to lingering back issues, Fox News Digital has learned. The show is in the process of scheduling guest judges to fill in during Cowell's absence.
TMZ reported the procedure is routine and tied to Cowell’s longstanding back problems, rather than a new or serious health concern.
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Cowell has struggled with back issues since his electric-bike accident in 2020.
"It could have been a lot worse. When I saw the X-ray, I really nearly smashed my spine to pieces, so I literally wouldn’t (have) been able to walk," he told Extra six months after his accident.
The TV personality admitted he immediately knew he had broken his back after falling off the bike.
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"You’re not supposed to get up, but I made myself kind of get carried into my bedroom, which is right there at the end of the house, and I’m lying there and I’m kind of passing out. I mean, it was just surreal," he told the outlet.
Cowell was later injured in another e-bike incident in 2022. At the time, a source told Fox News Digital that Cowell had "crashed to the ground" and "broke his arm."
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Cowell's breakthrough in front of the camera came in 2001 when he joined Britain's "Pop Idol" as a judge.
His cutting – and often funny – assessments of contestants quickly became his trademark.
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American audiences got to know him the following year as one of the original judges on "American Idol" alongside Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson.
Cowell subsequently built a television empire, creating "The X Factor" and developing the "Got Talent" franchise while helping launch or promote acts including One Direction, Fifth Harmony and Il Divo.
