Simon Cowell's reason for Britain's Got Talent last-minute exit explained

04 February 2024 , 22:04

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Simon Cowell's reason for Britain's Got Talent last-minute exit explained

Simon Cowell was forced to pull out of filming some of the latest series of Britain’s Got Talent auditions at the last-minute – and now it’s been revealed why.

The 64-year-old is worth a reported £475 million, but he has recently been spotted wearing a pair of orange tinted sunglasses that cost just £20 from Amazon. While some may have thought he was wearing them as a Bono-style fashion statement, there is another reason behind his new rock star look.

Talent show judge Simon has suffered from crippling migraines ‘for years’ and found that spending long periods of time under bright studio lights can make his headaches worse, so last summer he bought himself a cheap pair of blue light filter glasses to see if they helped.

Since then, he has been so impressed by them, they are now a permanent fixture wherever he goes. Though there is no scientific basis to prove they work, they are widely popular. But despite previously being pleased with his purchase, it seems the glasses just weren’t enough to stave off a headache he experienced last week.

Simon swears by his blue light filter glasses to help him stave off migraines (FilmMagic)

His glasses resemble the ones worn regularly by U2 singer Bono (Getty Images)

Revealing what happened, a friend told the Daily Mail: “Reports said it was a ‘mystery illness’ but it was simply a migraine. He was recovered by the next day and was back at work.” Talking about the glasses, the pal added: “He [Simon] swears by them and says that they make a huge difference.”

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Simon raised eyebrows when he first started wearing the glasses last summer while filming the previous season of Britain’s Got Talent. Asked about them as he walked the red carpet, he explained: “Everything looks better. You look amazing. And you know what, it cuts out all the light on computers and iPads. I have lights in my face when I’m filming, so this cuts a lot of that.”

But although he will continue to wear his special specs, the dad-of-one was forced to pull out of filming at the London Palladium last week after developing a severe headache. Fellow judges Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli had to carry on without him leaving many of the acts disappointed when they realised they wouldn't be performing for all four of the panel.

An insider told the Daily Star at the time: “Simon was due to film as normal, but he started to feel unwell. After some deliberation, he told everyone he was unable to take part in filming. To say he was frustrated was an understatement. Simon loves making Britain's Got Talent, so he was annoyed that he had to miss filming. The hopefuls were left waiting for quite a while. Then they realised they wouldn't be auditioning for Simon."

This means Simon won't appear in some parts of the new series, with the insider claiming the fact a "ratings winner" like Simon being missing from a massive chunk of auditions footage isn't exactly ideal.

Katie Wilson