Simon Cowell’s Brother Reveals The Music Mogul’s Unconventional Approach To Christmas

It's a turkey-free zone.

When you’re as rich as Simon Cowell, you can pretty much do what you want, when you want - and that goes for Christmas too.

This year you won’t find the ‘X Factor’ boss getting up at the crack of dawn to open pressies and baste his turkey.

Open Image Modal
Simon Cowell
Jo Hale via Getty Images

Instead, the 58-year-old takes a rather more unconventional approach to the festive season, which he spends in Barbados with his son Eric and girlfriend Lauren Silverman.

His brother Tony revealed: “Long before Eric came along, Simon’s Barbados Christmas Day would read: Get up at 2pm, breakfast of spinach smoothie, toast and honey, and tea. 3pm, jet-ski for hour. 4pm, sunbathe then nap. 9.30pm, Christmas dinner (roast chicken, not turkey). Simon is a creature of habit.

“If you spend Christmas with him, be prepared to fit into his schedule.

“Even Mum used to shout at him to get out of bed on Christmas Day. But I don’t blame him: Simon’s schedule is close to crazy.”

Open Image Modal
Simon with his partner Lauren and son, Eric.
PA Wire/PA Images

However, now that little Eric has come along, Simon has broken his tradition and gets up earlier – but not before 11am.

Tony also revealed that the music mogul takes a private jet to Barbados so his pet Yorkshire terriers, Squiddly and Diddly can join him and not go into kennels.

It’s not been the easiest year for Simon. In October he was rushed to hospital when he fell down the stairs at his London mansion.

There was also bad news on the ‘X Factor’ front, with this year’s series scoring the lowest viewing figures in the show’s history.

The final, which saw boyband Rak-Su win the singing competition, pulled in an average of just 4.4 million views, compared to Strictly’s 9.9 million on BBC One.

The average on-the-night viewing figure were 1.1m down on the Saturday night of the 2016 final, which until this year was the least-watched X Factor final in series history.

Celebrity Parents With The Most Children
Rod Stewart(01 of16)
Open Image Modal
Hot Rod has eight children, ranging in age from 52 down to four years old.Six months after the birth of his youngest son, Aiden, the singer also became a grandfather for the first time, when his daughter, Kimberly, gave birth to a daughter. (credit:Santiago Felipe via Getty Images)
Katie Price(02 of16)
Open Image Modal
Katie Price is as famous for her ever-growing brood as she is for her outlandish outfits and many, many reality TV appearances. The former glamour model gave birth to her eldest, Harvey, in 2002, and later welcomed two children with her ex-husband, Peter Andre, Junior and Princess Tiami. She also has a son, Jett, with ex-husband Kieran Hayler, and gave birth to their youngest daughter, Bunny, in 2015. Katie is adamant she's keen to have a sixth baby in the future. (credit:Neil Mockford/Alex Huckle via Getty Images)
Ronnie Wood(03 of16)
Open Image Modal
At the age of 68, Ronnie became a father of six when his wife gave birth to twins. (credit:Dave J Hogan via Getty Images)
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt(04 of16)
Open Image Modal
The former golden couple of Hollywood have six children, including three biological (Shiloh, and twins, Vivienne and Knox) and three adopted (Maddox, Zahara and Pax) kids. Angelina adopted Maddox and Zahara prior to her relationship with Brad, though he later became their legal father after they got together. (credit:Jason LaVeris via Getty Images)
Jermaine Jacksun(05 of16)
Open Image Modal
Jermaine Jacksun (as he's now known), has seven children, each more fabulously named than the last, culminating in his youngest being christened Jermajesty.How. Fabulous. (credit:Albert L. Ortega via Getty Images)
Kerry Katona(06 of16)
Open Image Modal
Kerry has five children.While her first two marriages each spawned two children, she also gave birth to a daughter by most recent husband George Kay, Dylan-George, in 2014. (credit:Alex Huckle via Getty Images)
Robert De Niro(07 of16)
Open Image Modal
In addition to his six children, the youngest of whom is four years old, the Oscar-winning actor is also a grandfather four times over. (credit:Gilbert Carrasquillo via Getty Images)
Nadya Suleman(08 of16)
Open Image Modal
Let's just say it, media personality Nadya Suleman didn't earn the nickname 'Octomom' by keeping her family in the low numbers.In addition the octuplets that first put her in the spotlight, Nadya was already a mum to six children, all of whom she has revealed were conceived by IVF. (credit:Charles Norfleet via Getty Images)
Mel Gibson(09 of16)
Open Image Modal
Mel and his ex-wife Robyn welcomed six sons and one daughter during their 30-year marriage. (credit:Don Arnold via Getty Images)
Caitlyn Jenner(10 of16)
Open Image Modal
Decades before coming out as transgender, Caitlyn had two children with each of her first two wives, and later became a parent to two children with her most recent wife, Kris Jenner, Kendall and Kylie. Perhaps you've heard of them? She also still acts as a step-parent to Kris's four children, Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob. (credit:Gilbert Carrasquillo via Getty Images)
Mike Tyson(11 of16)
Open Image Modal
Mike Tyson has fathered eight children throughout his lifetime, and also considers himself the father of his second wife, Monica Turner's eldest daughter from a previous relationship. (credit:Astrid Stawiarz via Getty Images)
Eddie Murphy(12 of16)
Open Image Modal
Eddie and his girlfriend of three years, Paige Butcher, announced in November 2015 that they were expecting a baby, her first child and his ninth. (credit:Kris Connor via Getty Images)
Bob Marley(13 of16)
Open Image Modal
Also at the higher-end of the spectrum is reggae singer Bob Marley, who fathered 12 children, the youngest of whom was just four years old at the time of his father's death in 1981. (credit:Everett Collection/REX Shutterstock)
Mia Farrow(14 of16)
Open Image Modal
During her lifetime, Mia has been a mother to an impressive 15 children, three of whom were with ex-husband André Previn and one with Woody Allen, though she suggested in 2013 that their son's father may actually be Frank Sinatra.The rest of her children were adopted from countries around the world. (credit:Taylor Hill via Getty Images)
Charlie Chaplin(15 of16)
Open Image Modal
Silent movie actor Charlie Chaplin's also had a large family, becoming father to 11 children across his lifetime. (credit:Glasshouse Images/REX Shutterstock)
Marlon Brando(16 of16)
Open Image Modal
However, no one beats Marlon Brando, who is said to have had 11 children, though some have suggested he had as many as 15.His son Christian previously remarked about his childhood: "The family kept changing shape, I'd sit down at the breakfast table and say, 'Who are you?'" (credit:Michel Dufour via Getty Images)