Simon Cowell, 60, is one of the most powerful people in music. He started his career doing a few menial jobs, one being a runner on Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film, The Shining, before joining his father at EMI Music Publishing working in the mail room. In 2001, Simon was given the role of judge on the first ever series of Pop Idol and the rest, as they say, was history. Simon is now a major TV personality, music and talent show judge, talent manager and television producer. The quintessential bachelor has even settled down and has a son with partner, Lauren Silverman and it was this change that affected his health.
Simon began to suffer with an extremely poor sleep pattern which took it’s toll on the icon.
In an interview for ITV’s Lorraine, he revealed his battle trying to get a regular sleeping habit.
He said: “I was like a vampire. I realised I was going to sleep between five and seven in the morning, and then the trouble with that is no matter if you get six hours or eight hours, you alway wake up tired.
“That’s the problem, because you’re not supposed to do that.”
Not getting enough shuteye can wreak havoc on the body and in an analysis of over 30,000 insomnia-related tweets and posts by bed retailer, Happy Beds, sleep struggles are an international issue.
The NHS said: “One in three of us suffers from poor sleep, with stress, computers and taking work home often blamed.
However, the cost of all those sleepless nights is more than just bad moods and a lack of focus.
Regular poor sleep puts you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes and it shortens your life expectancy.
It’s now clear that a solid night’s sleep is essential for a log and healthy life.”
Simon said: “I now go to sleep at ten, I now have breakfast at 8:30. It’s almost like a complete reversal.
“You just know when you’ve got to make a change. I just suddenly realised my hours, what I was eating had to change.”
When asked how this new change has improved his relationship with his son, Simon added: “That was a big part of it – it just didn’t feel right.
“I couldn’t explain to someone his age I’d been working all night and I’m tired in the afternoon.
“It bothered me, so I thought, I’m just gonna do it, and once I did it, it was simple.”
Most of us need around eight hours of good-quality sleep at night to function properly.
The NHS said: “As a general rule, if you wake up tired and spend the day longing for a chance to have a nap, it’s likely that you’re not getting enough sleep.
“A variety of factors can cause poor sleep, including health conditions such as sleep apnoea. But in most cases, it’s due to bad sleeping habits.
“Sleep helps boost immunity, keeps you slim, boosts mental wellbeing, prevents diabetes, increases sex drive, wards off heart disease and increases fertility.”
