Simon Cowell is happy than ever now that he’s settled down with Lauren Silverman, the mother of his one-year-old son Eric.

But today, the X Factor tycoon speaks openly for the first time about stealing his best friend’s wife and getting her pregnant– and humbly admits that he regrets his actions.

When Silverman began an affair with Cowell, she was married to Andrew Silverman, a property developer who was a friend of Cowell’s. After she became pregnant in July 2013, news of their relationship leaked.

For years, the two had an affair behind Andrew’s back.

Cowell, 56, tells Mail on Sunday Event magazine: ‘I’m not proud of the circumstances, I can’t hold my head up about it.’

Cowell (right) with now partner Lauren (left) and her then-husband Andrew Silverman (centre) on his yacht in 2012

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The 56-year-old says he was taken aback when he learned Lauren, who had a son called Adam with her ex-husband, was carrying his kid.

He acknowledges it wasn’t planned, and he only found out after an aide called him out of a meeting to tell him his girlfriend needed to talk with him right away.

He says: ‘This was not something I planned. But I remember going to the first scan with Lauren.

‘I called him Tad because he looked like a tadpole. Something just kicked in. I felt unbelievably protective of both of them. I just absolutely wanted him. I just hadn’t known that before.’

Eric was born on February 14th, 2014, and was named after Cowell’s late father. He taught the ten-month-old to share and say please and thank you, according to Cowell.

In the rare, wide-ranging interview, Cowell reveals that being a parent has totally changed him, and he shares personal details about his new family life. Lauren, 38, is now divorced, but Cowell won’t discuss wedding preparations, and the multi-millionaire claims he isn’t a ‘conventional dad’ to Eric, who is 21 months old, partly because he isn’t a ‘conventional man.’

Simon and Lauren, who is now divorced from Andrew, are truly in love, and he’s relishing his new role as a father – despite the fact that he doesn’t change nappies.

He says he cherishes his kid.

Cowell, who is reported to be worth €500 million, has admitted that he does not want to leave his considerable wealth to his son.

‘I don’t like the idea you just sort of pass it down from generation to generation,’ he explains.

“I mean, I find that quite disgusting. No one ever gave me a penny and I believe part of my drive was to do with the fact I had nothing to lose. That gives you a lot of energy.”