Simon Cowell Considers Himself 'Lucky' Despite Bike Accident Because It Could Have Been Worse

Simon Cowell revisited the time he got into a bike accident on his return to "America's Got Talent."

Cowell accidentally broke his back after a bike accident last year. It took him months to fully recover that he had to skip nearly the entire second half of the previous season of "AGT." But looking back, Cowell remained grateful and even considered himself "lucky."

"If you saw the scan, I mean, I was like a millimeter away from just completely cutting my back in half. So I consider myself lucky," he told Entertainment Tonight. "It could've been a lot worse."

He also added that being stuck indoors turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it happened during the pandemic.

"Weirdly it was a good thing that it happened. I didn't get COVID because I wasn't able to travel and I probably would've done my fair share last year," he continued.

Also, his physical therapy needed him to get moving, and it helped him to be in great shape. According to Cowell, he feels better at present than the previous year.

When asked what he missed about his fellow "AGT" judges after skipping a large part of the previous season, he said he missed how they made him laugh.

"Both Heidi and Sofia are actually very, very funny," Cowell said. "People always ask me, 'What are [they] like in real life?' And I always say that you're both very funny. You make me laugh."

When Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara were asked what they missed most about Cowell, they had different answers. Klum said he missed "his honesty" while Vergara replied, "His beauty."

Cowell underwent six hours of surgery shortly after the accident and had a metal rod put into his back. An unnamed insider said that he was "in shock and in massive amounts of pain" at the time.

There were rumors that he was bedridden following the accident. However, a source told Us Weekly that he was "up and walking since day two [of being home]."

Meanwhile, his fellow "AGT" judge, Howie Mandel, gifted him a tricycle to cheer him up while recovering. Many believed it was Mandel's way of showing him that he supports Cowell's love for cycling but sent him a tricycle to keep him safe. Cowell shared a photo of the present he received from Mandel on Instagram and wrote, "This just arrived at my house! Thank you @howiemandel."