Simon Cowell is reportedly devastated and grieving the loss of his mother, Julie Brett, after her death over the weekend. She was 89.
The former dancer died from a stroke after having spent time in a
London hospital, The Sun reported. Brett beat breast cancer in the past and had since assumed the position of honorary president of the U.K. charity Against Breast Cancer. In 2008, she was hit by a taxi in an accident that broke her hip and damaged her knees.
“Today our beloved mum Julie passed away. Anyone who had met her would know what a truly special and kind lady she was,” the Cowell family said in a statement Sunday. “We are heartbroken and will miss her terribly, but she is now at peace."
An unnamed friend of the family told The Sun that “Simon is absolutely devastated” and that “his mum was the most beloved person in his life and they were incredibly close.”
“But at least she got to see him settle down and start a family which was one of the great wishes of her life," the source said. "Julie had been unwell for some time and she was in a home. But Simon and his brothers were in constant contact with her and the family remained very close.”
Tony Cowell, Simon’s brother, took to Twitter to mourn his mother:
The Applause Store announced via Twitter that auditions for the new "X Factor" season, of which Cowell is a judge, were canceled following Brett's death:
“We would like to thank the media for kindly respecting Julie's privacy throughout and we politely request continued privacy for the entire family at this
particularly difficult time,” a family spokesman told the Daily Mail.
Cowell opened up to CNN's Piers Morgan in 2011 about his father’s death 16 years ago.
“I can't lie, it was the worst day of my life,” he said at the time.
He also talked about his love for his mother, sharing a story of how he like his mother’s cooking.
“I drove down there recently because I really wanted my mum to cook me lunch,” he recalled. “I said, 'I'm going to come down tomorrow for lunch. She said, 'Great, we'll book a hotel'. But I said, 'No I want your lunch.'”
Cowell and girlfriend Lauren Silverman named their son after his late father Eric. The couple flew to London from America just to show Brett her new grandson.
“It’s wonderful! He’ll make a fantastic father. He’ll be great,” Brett told The Sun prior to her death.
Brett often accompanied her celebrity son to filming events for his shows.
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