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Simon Cowell is reportedly set to sit out several episodes of America's Got Talent while he recovers from a routine back operation.
According to TMZ, the judge is expected to be away from the talent competition "for the next couple of weeks" as he prepares to undergo a planned procedure on his back.
Sources told the publication that the 66-year-old is due to have the operation shortly and will need to take some time away from filming while he recuperates.
The music executive previously suffered a serious back injury after falling from an electric bike at his Malibu, California home in August 2020. He underwent a six-hour operation, during which doctors placed metal rods and screws in his back, followed by a lengthy recovery.
Discussing the accident in 2021, The X Factor creator told Extra, "When I saw the X-ray, I really nearly could have smashed my spine to pieces, so I literally wouldn't have been able to walk. I knew I'd broken my back the minute I landed... it was really, really kind of sudden and it hurt."
Cowell later admitted to OK! in 2022 that he had been "lucky to survive" the operation and described the recovery process as a "long haul".
"I didn't talk about it too much at the time. I kept a lot back. It was a lot worse than people thought. I had a lot of long-term nerve damage as well," he said. "Then, a year later, I fell off (another) bike - and that set me back again."
The 21st season of America's Got Talent, which premiered in June, has now reached the live quarter-finals.
There has been no word yet on who could fill in for Cowell while he is away or exactly when he is expected to rejoin Howie Mandel, Mel B and Sofía Vergara on the judging panel.
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Prince Harry, Elton John and the other claimants involved in their privacy lawsuit are facing a multi million dollar legal bill after losing their case against a newspaper publisher.
In a ruling published on Friday, Mr Justice Nicklin instructed the seven well known claimants to make an interim payment of $13 million (£9.54 million) toward the legal expenses Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the company behind the Daily Mail, spent defending the case.
The group, which also includes Elizabeth Hurley and John’s husband David Furnish, has been ordered to make the first payment by 4pm on 28 August.
The claimants had taken legal action against ANL over allegations of unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking. Following a trial, Justice Nicklin rejected their claims on 7 July.
In Friday’s judgment, he said the remaining costs should be paid on an "indemnity basis", which means Prince Harry and the other claimants will be required to contribute to ANL’s legal expenses without the publisher having to demonstrate that every amount was reasonable.
Nicklin said the case had been built on "speculative and inferential" grounds and described the claimants’ conduct as "unreasonable to a high degree".
During a hearing last month, lawyers representing ANL said the publisher’s legal costs had reached around $47 million (£34.5 million). The claimants, meanwhile, reportedly had insurance covering slightly more than $22 million (£16 million).
Justice Nicklin also pointed out that ANL’s claimed expenses appeared "excessive", suggesting the claimants could ultimately avoid paying the entire amount.
"I regard a claim for costs in excess of £34 million as, on its face, excessive and as giving rise to real concerns as to whether all of the costs now claimed by Associated were reasonably incurred and are reasonable in amount," he wrote, according to BBC News.
The other claimants include actress Sadie Frost, politician Sir Simon Hughes and campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence. They have until 2 October to challenge the ruling through an appeal.
ANL representatives described Friday’s decision as "a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives".
The ruling comes shortly after reports emerged that Prince Harry, Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet are set to return to the U.K. later this month, following six years of living in California.
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