Simon Cowell says he has finally quit smoking cigarettes after decades of puffing away.
The Britain's Got Talent judge once smoked up to 40 cigarettes a day and was always seen with a packet by his side when travelling in cars, as well as regularly smoking in meetings.
But he has been trying to cut down since son Eric was born and now seems to have quit with the help of a vape cigarette.
Cowell said: "I'm going to say yes I've quit. I'm vaping so I'm not quite out of the woods, but I don't smoke cigarettes. I have not had a cigarette in about three or four weeks.
"I mean it was really, really tough. But you probably heard I lost my voice a few weeks ago, when that happened obviously I couldn't smoke. And then I realised. You know what, if I can get through four days, I can do a week. I could do a week, two weeks, et cetera, et cetera. And then I just thought, well, this is the moment.
"So touch wood, maybe that's it. I mean, it had to happen sooner or later."
Simon said quitting smoking was part of a general change in his lifestyle to be healthier, which had happened following his E-bike accident in August 2020 which almost left him in a wheelchair.
He explained: "There is that moment when something like this happens in a big accident. And you are lying there. And you are completely helpless, and there's nothing you can do about it. It's the worst feeling in the world. And so at that point, you just realise health is more important than anything else. But I had said those things before. And I didn't really think about it properly. Now I really, really think about it. Which is if you want to have a happy life, as much as you can, you've got to put health number one."
In October last year, Cowell's close friend Sinitta told how Eric was doing his best to stop his dad from smoking.
She said: "He follows him around, with the smoking thing, he only allows Simon to have one puff of a cigarette, he always says, 'how many puffs, how many puffs', Eric's like a little cigarette police and keeps him on his toes. It's very sweet."
And Simon himself has talked about giving up as far back as 2013. He told LBC 97.3 at the time: "I'm trying to do electronic cigarettes, they're not bad. But moderation would be better."
Britain's Got Talent is set to return this Saturday, with Bruno Tonioli replacing David Walliams, while Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon return.
Simon described former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno as a "completely natural fit on the show."
He said: "It was quite remarkable. Even though he'd never seen the show before, it was just brilliant. It was seamless and as I said before, he's brought some chaos to the show.
"But I'm kind of watching the show through his eyes again because he has never seen it and he's so excited. It really is great."
Britain’s Got Talent launches Saturday 15th April, 20:00 and continues Sunday 16th April, 19:45 on ITV1 and ITVX.
