Simon Cowell has revealed he once turned down $150,000 from a couple who asked him to judge them having sex.

The media mogul, 65, is perhaps the most famous TV judge in the world for his stints on shows like The X Factor, American Idol and Britain’s Got Talent.

Simon’s reputation as a tough, no nonsense judge won him millions of fans – including a man who approached him with a very unusual request.  

‘One time—this is a true story—I was in a restaurant and this guy comes up to me and he said, ‘I love your show,’ Simon said on the How To Fail podcast. 

‘Thank you very much. ‘Will you take a picture?’ Sure. ‘This is my wife.’ Nice to meet you.’

Simon recalled the couple then asked: ‘Would you judge us having sex?’  

Simon Cowell has revealed he once turned down $150,000 from a couple who asked him to judge them having sex

The media mogul, 65, is perhaps the most famous TV judge in the world for his stints on shows like The X Factor, American Idol and Britain’s Got Talent

The TV star assumed the offer was a joke, adding: ‘I went, are you winding me up?

‘And they said, ‘No, we’ll pay you.’ Well how much? And it was actually a lot of money. And I thought, do I? No, I just can’t do it.’ It was $150,000.’

Although Simon found the interaction, ‘bizarre’, the music mogul explained why he enjoys these kinds of fan moments. 

‘I am very shy,’ he said. ‘I can’t go to a pre-party. It’s the worst thing in the world making small talk with people I don’t know. If we have a common subject, I’m pretty good.’

Simon feels he became much better at small talk when he became famous because his career in the limelight was an instant ice-breaker. 

‘Instantly, they know you, you’re talking about something I like—which is the shows, the artists, whatever—so it kind of helped me with my shyness,’ he said. 

It comes after Simon revealed his surgeon feared he would never walk again following his near-fatal e-bike crash.

The star broke his back in 2020 after being thrown off an electric bike when he was testing the vehicle at his home in Malibu, California.

He underwent extensive surgery after the shock accident including having a metal rod put in his back to stabilise it and he has overhauled his lifestyle in the years since.

It comes after Simon revealed his surgeon feared he would never walk again following his near-fatal e-bike crash

The star broke his back in 2020 after being thrown off his electric bike while he was testing the vehicle at his home in Malibu, California (pictured on an e-bike in 2024) 

Now, Simon has spoken more about the devastating impact of the crash, revealing his surgeon didn’t know if he’d be able to ‘fix’ his back due to the severity of the injury.

Speaking to Elizabeth Day on the How To Fail podcast, Simon revealed he ‘could have died’ in the accident and his surgeon warned him he might never walk again.

He shared: ‘He showed me the X-ray and he said ”look, I’m not going to lie Simon, I don’t know if I can fix this, which means you probably won’t walk and secondly, the operation could take 11 hours”. 

‘They said the obvious – it could go wrong – and all I could think about was my family and everything. In that moment you kind of realise the most important thing is your health and don’t do stupid things.’

The former X Factor judge said the horror accident was a major ‘wake-up call’ about his ‘crazy’ lifestyle and taught him to stop taking risks in life.

‘It was a wake-up moment, which is I’m crazy,’ he explained. 

‘It kind of happened for a reason because I thought I was fit but then when I had to do all the physio after, just walking, they make you walk very quickly, I pretty much couldn’t move and then I started to walk a lot and thought ”oh God, I was in a really bad place”.’ 

Reflecting on the accident itself, Simon revealed he was thrown from his e-bike after it did a massive ‘wheelie’ due to the power of the throttle, and said he immediately knew he had broken his back.

‘I shipped it in from England, couldn’t wait to drive it. I was in the driveway and my son was there and I pulled the throttle, it did the biggest wheelie and it threw me like 7-8ft in the air,’ he said.

‘I landed on my back and the second I landed I thought ”s**t, I know I’ve broken my back” because I could feel it. 

‘The first thing I did was ”can I move my hands?”, yes, ”can I move my feet?”, yes, OK, that’s not too bad.’

Now, Simon (pictured in 2024) has spoken more about the impact of the crash, revealing his surgeon didn’t know if he’d be able to ‘fix’ his back due to the severity of the injury

Simon said it led him to realise his health was ‘more important’ than anything else and focus on his family life with his partner Lauren Silverman and their son Eric (all pictured in September)

Though his surgeon initially feared he would be paralysed from the accident, Simon has made a full recovery and says he is now fitter than he was before the crash.

He has since shed three stone and has gradually ditched smoking, which saw him have 80 cigarettes a day at the height of his habit.

In 2023, he told The Sun: ‘I was so close to living the rest of my life in a wheelchair, it gives you a completely different outlook on life. In a positive way.

‘It hurt – trust me – when it happened, but good things happened off the back of it.’

Simon said it led him to realise his health was ‘more important’ than anything else and he completely overhauled his lifestyle to find a better work-life balance.

The accident also made him focus on his family life with his partner Lauren Silverman and their son Eric, 11, and he also cut down on his work amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Simon previously smoked up to 80 cigarettes per day before reducing his use to just two each day in 2017 after falling down the stairs of his London home.

He used to work through the entire night, but he now refuses to work past 6pm or on his days off.