Simon Cowell is fast making a media mogul out of his six-year-old son Eric, with the pair joining forces on a new children’s entertainment brand, Wishfits.
And, honestly, we’re not even children but sign us up!
Because he’s clearly not got enough going on in his own career, Syco boss Simon has got his adorable son with partner Lauren Silverman on board to help put together seven books.
Yes, seven – they’re going to be busy boys over the coming years.
The first three pictures books are set to be released in 2021, with a portion of the profits going to Shooting Star Children’s Hospices and Together for Short Lives.
Publishing giant Hachette, the entertainment mogul and the schoolboy will launch their unique partnership with the publication of three books beginning in spring next year and we suppose it’ll take about four seconds for each copy to sell out.
Never fear, though, as four more books will then follow the next year.
But WTH is a Wishfit?
The Wishfits – unveiled by Simon as the highlight of the annual Hachette Global Showcase at The Cambridge Theatre in central London today – are ‘magical and unusual creatures which have evolved in a weird and wonderful way, combining two different species to form hybrid animals with very distinct characteristics’.
Intel tells us some of them are ‘part friendly, part fierce, others are both furry and scaly’.
Alright, we’re picking up what they’re putting down.
The characters dreamt up by Simon and Eric have some pretty intriguing names as well, such as the DAT (dog/cat) the COG (cat/dog), the SNOG (snail/dog – the enthusiasm of a dog at the speed of a snail, if you needed more info), the PEEP (pig/sheep) the CHUG (cheetah/slug – the slowest cat in the world) and the HIPPOROO (hippo/kangaroo).
‘To be able to write a series of books with my son Eric has been magical. This idea was inspired three years ago by a very special friend of ours who runs a Children’s Hospice charity,’ Simon said of his latest endeavour today. ‘I told her one evening about some of the funny animals my son Eric and I would invent, starting with the Cog and the Dat. And how every evening the two of us would think of the most unlikely animal we would like to have as a pet.’
He continued: ‘We would come up with some very strange new animals and the naming of the animals was Eric’s favourite thing! She loved this idea so much she encouraged me to turn this into a book series.’
Simon added: ‘I really do believe it’s important to encourage kids’ creativity and imagination. I also believe kids have better ideas than most adults.’
And what Wishfits are Eric’s favourite?
‘My favourite Wishfits right now are probably the Snog and Dat and Cog and the Chimpanpoo!’ the youngen said. ‘I really hope that one day I can meet them all!’
It may come as no surprise Eric is fast learning his dad’s keen business acumen after Simon previously revealed his hopes to one day hand his business down to his son.
‘My perspective on life is slightly different than it used to be. I used to be really competitive, read the ratings and have white knuckles. Now I find it funny,’ he told The Sun back in 2018. ‘At the end of the day I always go back to Eric, who will hopefully one day be running these shows — one day, please God.’
The books will launch in paperback at £6.99 in spring 2021.
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