The Secret Diary Of Simon Cowell: The Childhood Years

By Tony Cowell

If I was in a book shop and saw a shelf of books all about Simon Cowell, then I would probably just walk on by. I feel like I know enough about the man already, though when I saw this book by his brother Tony about his childhood, I couldn’t resist getting it to review.

There was, apparently, a real diary kept by Simon Cowell in existence, which provided much of the material for this book, though as Tony describes in his introduction, ‘it may be based on fact, but it does contain a huge dollop of fiction. This to my mind makes it all the more interesting, though I’m still not entirely sure where exactly the truth lies in amongst all the humour! Still it was an entertaining read, and I was right to favour this over the bog standard celebrity biography. Tony has definitely got the gift of a storyteller, and of course knows his brother better than anyone.

Tony begins his diary entries when Simon is 7 years old, and ends when he drops out of school. In between these times there are humorous tales of his mothers antics, his disgust at the matching outfits he shared with his brother Nicolas, his foray into tennis coaching at boarding school, and of course his early love of fast cars and all things black!

One of my favourite incidents was a young Simon giggling, when playing dead in the school play, and not forgetting him turning up to a job interview in jean (“I always wear them”). There are also little details that hint at the Simon we know and love now, such as his interest in the entertainment business, the land of opportunity that is America, and even the post office (Simon’s first job was in the post room at EMI). There’s a lot of vivid, bright, and funny tales packed into quite a small book, and it has certainly sparked my interest in Tony Cowell’s writing too. Why not check it out for yourself, and see what you think?

‘The Secret Diary Of Simon Cowell’ is available now from Zavvi.com. Click Here for details.