Simon Cowell's Son Seems To Be Behind The AGT Judge's Drastic Personality Change

The words we thought we would never say: Simon Cowell is a softy. The "America's Got Talent" judge is unrecognizable after his transformation from ruthless talent critic to an impressionable judge and the first to give a standing ovation. According to his fellow co-judge, it's all a result of fatherhood.

Cowell welcomed son Eric in 2014 with fiancée Lauren Silverman. At the time of his birth, the former "X Factor" judge wrote on X, saying: "I never knew how much love and pride I would feel." Now, others are seeing the effects of that love. "I think Simon now looks to Eric, and you'll hear it in a lot of his judging," fellow judge Howie Mandel told People in May 2025. "He goes, 'I don't know if I get this, but I know this is exactly what my son would love. And because of that, you're getting a yes.'"

The competition show's viewers have seen a change. "Simon Cowell is literally so much nicer than he used to be!" someone wrote on X in 2024. Even Susan Boyle, who Cowell notoriously mocked in an early season of "Britain's Got Talent," enjoys working with the British TV personality. Others feel like Cowell has gotten too nice. An X user opined: "This is why I used to like Simon Cowell when he was authentic and mean on American Idol, but now that everything he says is nice and flattery I don't feel he can be trusted."

Fatherhood didn't just change Simon Cowell's work persona; it changed his entire life. The Syco Entertainment executive revealed the tragic details of losing his parents — his father, Eric, died in 1999, and his mother, Julie, in 2015 — which he discussed in a 2024 interview on "The Diary of a CEO" podcast.

"I was desperately unhappy. I wasn't particularly enjoying my work and I thought, 'You know what, I'm just going to become a vampire,'" he recalled, noting how he drowned himself in his work. "It was like the expression: 'Is this as good as it gets?'" Then he found out that he was about to welcome a child into the world, which flipped his life on its head. "It absolutely changed everything in my life."

The celebrity talent coach feels that his identity as a dad rescued him from a dark place. "I loved my parents so much, and once they left, I was kind of lost for a while, and then Eric kind of saved me," he told People in May 2025. "Because that love comes back a hundred times more powerful." Like Howie Mandel, Cowell admitted that the trademark sour personality of Judge Simon has been traded in for a judge of whom his son can be proud. "Because you want your kids and their friends to love the show," said Cowell. "And that's a great feeling."