Simon Cowell dreamed of conquering glittering Las Vegas as a young boy growing up in Hertfordshire in the 1960s and now his dream has finally been realised but his biggest cheerleader isn’t here to see it

Simon Cowell has opened up about his biggest regret in a rare show of emotion.

The X Factor boss and music mogul, 63, is famously reserved but in an exclusive chat with TheMirror.com he revealed that he’s devastated his parents didn’t get to see his biggest dream come true.

The dad-of-one admits his parents would have been “so proud” that his America’s Got Talent acts are taking over Las Vegas with a sellout residency at the Luxor Resort.

Sadly neither his mum Julie or dad Eric are here to witness Simon’s success in the glittering Vegas he dreamed of as a child growing up in Hertfordshire in the 1960s.

“I just wish my mom and dad were still here to see that,” he said. “They would’ve been so proud because I was talking to them when I was a kid about things I’d do in Vegas. They knew how much it meant to me so yeah, it’s everything.”

Simon Cowell (left) with his mum Julie, brother Nick and his dad Eric
Simon set his heart on a career show business from an early age following his music industry executive dad Eric – whom Simon named his only son after – and ballet dancer mum Julie’s footsteps.

And now his success in Las Vegas seems bittersweet eight years after he lost his beloved mum Julie to a stroke. Simon cancelled The X Factor auditions due to take place in the days after her sudden death in 2015 at the age of 89.

Her death came 16 years after his dad died of a heart attack at the age of 81. Simon previously said of losing his father: “I can’t lie, it was the worst day of my life. It was a horrible horrible time.”

Promoted Stories

In a cruel twist of fate, the news of Simons’s dad’s death came on the same day he had his first number one in America with boyband Westlife. Now after Simon’s shows including AGT and American Idol have dominated prime time US TV for over two decades – he admits he doesn’t take his success for granted.

Simon Cowell with his fiancee Lauren Silverman and their son Eric
“When I first came to work in America 21 years ago, honestly, I thought maybe we’ll get one year,” he said. “It will be fun, and it will be over. So, the fact we’re here 21 years later, here talking with my show in Vegas, it is brilliant. I mean, amazing.”

Simon claims that being “persistent” is the key to his success in America.

“None of these things are easy because most of the projects we’ve ever done including Got Talent, you’re always told: ‘No it will never work… blah blah blah…’ So, you just gotta be persistent,” he says.

“So, if I really am passionate about something, I just keep going until I can wear somebody down. That’s kind of what I do. I was so bored at school. I always promised myself, I got to do a job which is fun. And that kind of took it down to music, TV, or movies.

“And then it was music or TV and then I luckily had the chance to do both. It really is, I think, one of the best jobs in the world because you can kind of make it up as you go along. You meet some people. It’s funny, it’s surprising. And you get paid. It’s brilliant.”

Simon admits it’s “difficult to put into words” how much his US success means to him “because I was so awful in school”.

“All my teachers said to me I’ll be terrible when I go to work,” he said. “So, to see a show (poster) of mine on this massive building in Vegas is honestly incredible.”

Simon doesn’t take the raft of talent from AGT for granted and is still astonished by the performers that come through the show.

Ventriloquist comic Terry Fator landed one of the biggest paid residences in Las Vegas history while other artists like Darci Lynne Farmer, Matt Franco, Grace VanderWaal, Shin Lim and Jackie Evancho have become household names.

“I mean there were a couple of moments where I did think, yeah, this has all been worthwhile because look, you couldn’t make a show called All Stars unless you had stars,” he said. “I was quite overwhelmed at one point. It was like, my God, they’re absolutely brilliant.”