Simon Cowell has upped and left Los Angeles, in the midst of the scandal over his married, pregnant lover and her furious husband, to take his annual sojourn in the St Tropez sun.
The X Factor supremo is expected to spend a month on a luxury cruiser in the Mediterranean, where is he is usually joined by a selection of his favourite ladies - ex-fiancee Mezhgan Hussainy, longtime confidante Jackie Sinclair and Sinitta.
Simon Cowell seemed a tad bashful at the US X Factor launch last week in LA
The timing is particularly ironic, as the yacht expected to house Cowell and his coterie for the next month, the Slipstream, is the very same one on which he was pictured last year cuddling up to Lauren Silverman, the New York socialite now at the centre of the storm over her relationship with Cowell, her divorce announcement and custody battle for her seven-year-old son.
Meanwhile, there are conflicting reports over whether Cowell's 'harem' are "furious" with him over the news of his impending fatherhood, or "standing by him 100%" as he battles to keep his family image intact in the US over the news of his affair... or maybe both.
Elsewhere, Andrew Silverman's family have voiced their distress at his wife's "cruel, inhuman" treatment of him, while Lauren's own mother has broken her silence, telling the Sun that her daughter did not set out to "trap" Cowell, and blasted claims that she was some sort of gold-digger.
And news that Andrew Silverman has named Cowell as co-respondent in his divorce papers, citing adultery, could mean that the famously private Cowell could be forced to dig out personal details of his enormous fortune in a public courtroom, as the group go into battle over custody.
Oh, and Lauren Silverman "wants to get married to Cowell as soon as possible".
So, all in all, he could probably do with a holiday.
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