I'm A Celebrity's Sinitta reveals heartbreaking reason why she and Simon Cowell split

10 April 2026, 21:00

Why did Sinitta and Simon Cowell split? Picture: ITV / Getty

By Abbie Reynolds

Here's a look inside Sinitta's relationship with Simon Cowell as she opens up about their 40 year romance on I'm A Celebrity South Africa.

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Speaking on I'm A Celebrity... South Africa, Sinitta has opened up about her 40 year on and off again relationship with music mogul Simon Cowell.

She said: "I feel like Simon loves me and cares about me but it's just...I think I romanticise everything. And then you see him with his partner and his baby, and it's like, 'Wow, okay.' Like everyone really does have their proper person."

Despite being his ex-girlfriend, who believed she would one day marry him, Sinitta is the godmother to Simon and his fiancée Lauren's son Eric.

So, since they keep such a close friendship now, what caused them to split in the first place?

Read more: I'm A Celebrity's Gemma Collins hits back at Sinitta calling her a "joke"

Sinitta says she and Simon Cowell had an on and off relationship for 40 years. Picture: Getty

Why did Sinitta and Simon Cowell split?

Sinitta and Simon reportedly first met in a nightclub in the early '80s and later Simon signed Sinitta to his label which began their long history.

Before starring on I'm A Celeb South Africa, Sinitta opened up about her unconventional relationship with Simon when she starred on Channel 4's First Dates eight years ago.

She shared: "Simon was the first time I was actually in love with somebody. It was kind of on and off for years. Some hot person would catch his eye and he'd disappear and I'd break up with him and then we'd get back together and he'd go off again with someone else."

Sinitta even told her date that she thought she'd marry Simon, but it was mostly because she wanted to settle down and have kids that they didn't work out. "I thought I would grow up and marry Simon but I think Simon thought he was never going to grow up and definitely never get married," she said.

The singer and actress even opened up about her failed marriage and the three miscarriages she underwent.

Why Sinitta & Simon Cowell Broke up | First Dates

Of course, Simon is now engaged and has a son of his own, who is actually a prominent part of Sinitta's life.

Sinitta told HELLO! that when Simon's fiancée Lauren fell pregnant, he actually called her to tell her the news and she was "completely and utterly stunned".

"I was in such a daze, to the point where I wondered if I was dreaming it. He sounded…odd, calm, strange, which threw me," she said.

"I don't mind admitting all sorts of emotions were running around inside me. He was very concerned about how I would take it, which, on reflection, he didn’t need to be. He didn't owe me that consideration."

In 2014, Sinitta shared how Simon had asked her to be the godmother his now 11-year-old Eric. On X, she wrote: "Wanted you to be the first (well after my mom and children) to hear about my next Serious New Role..Drum Roll.

"At Mothers Day lunch with Mom, Magdalena, Zac, @JasonJGale @SimonCowell I was asked to be GodMother to Baby Eric !!!X."

Magdalena and Zac are Sinitta's two children who she adopted with her ex-husband.