is a talent show judge, record company owner and business mogul, but, at heart, he's a true family man. The Syco boss is clearly at his happiest when surrounded by his loved ones including his and their However, Simon is a self-confessed dog lover and considers their furry
Friends an equal staple of the family too and it's this passion for animals that the 64-year-old is evidently passing down to his son. Simon and Lauren are already dog owners of five dogs, Simon's two Yorkshire terriers, Squiddly and Diddly, as well as his late mother's dogs, Freddy and Daisy, whom they adopted in Barbados. More recently at the start of 2024, Simon announced that they had welcomed a new puppy to the family, a . And in February, the former X Factor boss posted an adorable photo with son Eric and another pooch sitting in between them. Simon captioned the snap: "The perfect day," followed by the hashtag #AGT as they were filming episodes for the
NBC show. Eric was giggling in the photo and looked right at home cosying up to the dog who was nestled in between him and his dad. It's not clear if the dog was Simon's or a friend's they were looking after, however, the trio looked elated to be hanging out altogether. Eric will have been surrounded by dogs his whole life thanks to his dad's passion for animal welfare. The ten-year-old will have no doubt picked up on his dad's caring nature, particularly when he took in dogs Freddy and Daisy as his own when his mum sadly passed away. When , Simon shared a heartwarming photo of Eric stroking the dog and cuddling with her on the sofa after they brought her home. Meanwhile, as a judge on and the
British version of the show, too, Simon gets introduced to plenty of dogs that come onto the talent programme with their owner to impress the panel with their clever tricks. So it's no wonder that when Simon gets introduced to new animals even backstage on the show, he's quick to "fall in love." Just last week, Simon posted a photo of him cradling a Chihuahua puppy as he wrote simply: "I've just fallen in love," and we can see why. The boss didn't state whether it was the family's new pet, but Simon looked completely besotted either way. Simon and Eric's joint passion for animals was manifested in a beautiful way back in 2020 when Simon announced that he and his son, then six years old, had come together to write a series of children's books all about animals that Eric had invented. "WISHFIT is a world where the most unusual animals exist," Simon penned of the project, which is a seven-book deal with publishing house Hatchette Kids, adding: "The WISHFITS are magical, unusual and have evolved in a weird and wonderful way, combining two different species to form hybrid animals with very distinct characteristics!"