Simon Cowell Stopped Using a Cellphone 8 Years Ago… and His Fiancée Says the Change Has Been “Extraordinary”

Most people who attempt a digital detox are thrilled if they make it through a long weekend without checking their phone. Apparently, Simon Cowell took that idea and ran with it for nearly a decade.

According to his fiancée, Lauren Silverman, the music mogul and “America’s Got Talent” judge gave up his cellphone roughly eight years ago, and the results have reportedly been nothing short of transformative.

Silverman, 48, opened up about Cowell’s unusual relationship with technology while appearing on “This Morning” on Wednesday, June 17, to discuss the Raise the Age campaign, which calls for stronger protections for children growing up online.

During the conversation, she explained that Cowell, 66, has effectively been “ahead of the curve” when it comes to stepping away from constant connectivity.

What started as a personal choice has, according to Silverman, reshaped how her fiancé moves through the world on a daily basis.

Why Lauren Silverman Says Going Phone-Free Changed Simon

“The difference that it has made on him in a positive way, it’s been extraordinary,” Silverman said of Simon’s Cowell’s decision to step away from his phone eight years ago.

It is a striking statement, especially considering Cowell’s career has long depended on staying plugged into entertainment news, talent competitions, and the relentless churn of the music and television industries.

And yet, by his fiancée’s account, disconnecting from the device most people consider essential has only sharpened his focus rather than dulled it.

Silverman did not stop at vague praise. She broke down exactly what she believes the phone-free lifestyle has done for Cowell’s day-to-day mental state.

“I think in terms of just reducing those distractions and the noise and that feeling, that pull that we all inevitably have when you’ve got a phone sitting next to you which is constantly just going off and there’s notifications coming in and there’s all kinds of things that are pulling you into that,” she explained.

It’s a description plenty of smartphone users will recognize immediately, even if very few of them have done anything about it. She concluded simply, “I think by not having it, it has just eliminated all that for him, which has been really, really positive.”

What makes this especially notable is the framing Silverman used during her appearance.

She positioned Cowell as something of an accidental role model for their 12-year-old son, Eric, given how dramatically he scaled back his relationship with screens long before the topic of children and social media became a national conversation in the UK.

In a household where screen habits are clearly a hot topic, having a parent who has already lived eight years without a phone glued to his hand appears to carry some weight.

The “Toaster” Theory Behind Simon’s Decision

Cowell himself has talked about why he walked away from his phone in the first place, and his explanation is, unsurprisingly, blunt. In a 2024 interview with YouTuber Evan Carmichael, Cowell did not mince words about his feelings toward smartphones.

“I hate them so much,” he said. “I think they’re boring. For me, I think it’s like having a toaster with you all the time. It’s like, it’s a toaster, and a phone is just as boring. It’s like, toast is nice and occasionally a telephone call is nice, but not all the bloody time.”

It’s a comparison that sounds almost too simple to hold up, until you consider his reasoning. Cowell explained that the realization came gradually, after noticing how he felt during stretches of time away from his phone.

“When I realized by not being on it for about three or four months a year, I was happier that time, and then when it was like, ‘Oh God, it’s time to turn my phone back on,’ I started to dread it,” he said.

That sense of dread, rather than relief, at the idea of reconnecting appears to have been the tipping point that pushed him to make the separation permanent.

Cowell has also opened up about the experience on Steven Bartlett’s podcast “The Diary of a CEO,” where he gave an even more candid breakdown of how little he actually uses the device when he does have access to one. “It sits in the car,” he said of his phone.

“Nine times out of 10, I’ll use somebody else’s phone. Because I don’t even know how to work it anymore.” He even admitted to a moment of panic when he briefly thought he’d lost the phone altogether, before catching himself and brushing off the reaction.

“And then one day, I thought I’d lost it, and it’s like, ‘Oh God, I’ve lost my life.’ And it’s like, ‘Oh, stop being so dramatic. It’s a stupid telephone,’” he recalled.

He added that despite the device’s constant presence in modern life, he genuinely doesn’t use the overwhelming majority of what it offers. “I don’t use 99% of the things on it,” he said. “I actually really like talking with people.”

Strict Phone Rules for Their Son, With One Recent Change

The Cowell-Silverman household’s approach to technology extends well beyond Simon’s own habits. Silverman explained during her “This Morning” appearance that Eric’s phone situation is heavily restricted.

“In terms of having a phone, he does have, I guess you could call it a brick phone,” she said. “It’s a smartphone in the sense that it’s like an Apple phone, but there’s nothing on it. It’s completely shut down, so he can text and WhatsApp, but that’s it.”

Silverman reinforced that stance elsewhere in the same appearance, stating plainly, “With Eric, we have been very clear on no social media for him, and particularly even more so once I started to become involved with the campaign.”

That advocacy work isn’t abstract for Silverman. She has joined the Raise the Age campaign alongside other families pushing for legislation similar to a law passed in Australia in December, which raises the legal age for social media access to 16.

Silverman has been outspoken about wanting lawmakers, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to treat the issue as a child-safety matter rather than a political one.

“This really shouldn’t even be a political discussion… it should absolutely be a discussion of what is in the best interest and the safety and protection of children, full stop,” she said, adding that she would urge Starmer “as a father to do the right thing.”

Worth noting: Eric’s relationship with phones has shifted somewhat over time. Silverman shared in an Instagram post that she had changed her mind about her son having a phone at all, even while continuing to hold the line on social media.

“I changed my mind about my 12-year-old son having a phone,” the post read. “But I still said no to social media. Whether we like it or not, texting has become a part of childhood.

Plans are made there. Jokes are shared there. Friendships often happen there.” It’s a small but telling detail, even a household built around one parent’s near-total phone abstinence has had to find a workable middle ground for a kid growing up in 2026.

Silverman has also spoken candidly about her concerns as a mother, revealing that her worries about social media intensified after Eric was found to have downloaded Snapchat on her own phone without her knowledge.

“He would always take my phone to put music on in the car, and obviously, I’m driving, so I can’t look at what he’s doing. I knew nothing about it, and how it actually worked,” she told The Mirror. “Social media has been something that has been a nagging fear for both Simon and me for a long time.”

Taken together, the Cowell-Silverman household paints a picture of two parents trying to thread a very modern needle: one parent who has functionally opted out of phone culture entirely, a son who needs at least some connectivity to keep up with friends, and a shared, very firm line on social media that neither parent seems willing to budge on.

Whether Cowell ever fully reconnects with his phone remains an open question, but based on everything he and Silverman have said publicly, the smart money says the toaster stays in the car.