Nine years ago, Simon Cowell's life changed drastically when he and his fiancée Lauren Silverman welcomed their son Eric into the world.
"When you become a dad, something clicks in you. It's all about them," he told ITV's Lorraine.
But before settling down and starting a family, the music mogul - who is known for his work as a judge on The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent - had a much wilder love life.
The 63-year-old would often be seen sailing around the world in a luxury yacht, surrounded by a group of his exes who had been dubbed the 'harem'.
Stunning ladies such as Sinitta, Jackie St Clair, Terri Seymour, and Mezghan Hussainy were his companions on the 196ft Slipstream or at his luxury Barbados mansion.
According to singer Sinitta, the group would play board games and have movie nights - and she was quick to insist things were strictly platonic.
"We're not all sleeping with him. It's as bad as calling us his b*****s. The girls are all there with partners or as friends," she once told the Daily Mail.
However, they weren't always that way as Sinitta and Simon previously had an on-and-off relationship that spanned 30 years.
The pair first met in 1983 when Sinitta, thought to have been 20 at the time, became his first signing as a record boss.
They hit it off, but Sinitta said she struggled with jealousy, claiming that women were always attracted to Simon, who she describes as 'such a flirt'.
The situation was so turbulent that Sinitta repeatedly ended things to find someone new, but admitted she always ended up back in Simon's arms.
"I'd go off and find somebody else. Then he'd see me and not like that," she told The Mirror in 2011.
"He'd do weird things to p*** my boyfriend off and then, of course, I'd go back to him. I dated David Essex for a bit and he'd be just winding him up. He'd be like 'look how old he is... he could be your grandad... look at his hair'. He'd just pick holes so I'd go off them and go running back to him."
On one of their breaks, Sinitta ended up dating Hollywood star Brad Pitt, while he was still up and coming.
But no matter how many other people they dated, the 59-year-old always thought they'd end up together once and for all.
"Simon might say differently," she previously told OK! "[But] I really believed when he got all the madness of the other women out of his system, we'd end up together. I adore his family, they adore me, it always felt comfortable and right with him and I would've married him and stayed with him forever. I never fell out of love with him."
However, Simon's relationship with Lauren and the birth of their son was the final nail in the coffin for Sinitta, who says she wouldn't get in the way of their family.
"When [they got serious and] Eric was born that was it. A game changer. I would never, ever want to come between his family. I want them to be happy," she admitted to the publication.
She added that Lauren and Simon's relationship was difficult for her at first, as Lauren had been one of her best friends, but she's since gotten over it.
Sinitta isn't the only famous ex Simon has, and she's previously stated she thinks television presenter Terri Seymour is the 'Queen ex'.
Simon and Terri dated from 2002 to 2008 and have remained friends after ending things due to wanting different things in life.
"We will be the best of mates, but I think in relationships, you have to be totally honest. I have always been and I know Terri knows that," he told Just Jared at the time.
But unlike some of the other 'harem' members, Terri, 50, remains a pivotal part of Simon and Lauren's life.
She regularly shares Instagram pictures of herself and Lauren enjoying playdates with Eric and her own daughter Coco, five, who she raises in Los Angeles with her model and artist partner, Clark Mallon.
In 2010 she opened up about her continuing friendship with Simon, claiming they often speak to each other between five and 10 times a day and when he's in LA they would see each other 'daily'.
Former Playboy and Page 3 pin-up Jackie St Clair was thought to be another member of the so-called 'harem', having dated Simon for a short time in the 1980s after meeting in a club.
Their romance fizzled out, but the pair remained pals - however, Sinitta wasn't said to be a big fan and reportedly refused to be on Simon's boat at the same time as her.
Despite this, the pair were pictured flanking Simon at the National Television Awards in 2010.
Jackie - who once dated Andrew Ridgeley and Prince - is now married to businessman Carl Michaelson.
Before popping the question to Lauren in January 2022, Simon was engaged once before to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy, who worked on American Idol.
He proposed to the beauty expert on Valentine's Day 2010 in the bedroom of his plush pad in Holland Park, London.
He even commissioned a £250,000 six-carat sparkler from Bond Street jewellers Graff for the occasion.
But alas, he called it off just a year later but gifted her a £5million Beverly Hills mansion.
Mezghan, now 47, went on to become the proud mum of twins Preston and Isabella in 2018 with partner Phil Miller.
Speaking about the relationship, Simon is quoted in Tom Bower's biography Sweet Revenge as saying it was a "big mistake".
But he didn't blame Mezghan for their 'rocky' relationship, instead said: "I'm attracted to crazy women. I encourage crazy behaviour and I make them crazy. I'm attracted to certain personalities who are difficult to control, so there are tantrums, tears, and fights, which is all part of the drama.
"My life is really odd. Every girl wants to be number one and they’re very territorial. I like the fight because otherwise I'd have a dull group of girlfriends."
Outside of his gang of exes, there was one other woman Simon previously admitted he had wanted to be with - but it never happened.
The reality TV star confessed he wanted to have an affair with his X Factor co-star Cheryl - who was still married to Ashley Cole at the time.
In Bower's Sweet Revenge book, he reportedly said: "I adored her... I would have liked an affair with Cheryl.
"I felt like a mouse being played with by a beautiful cat."
Cheryl was handpicked by Cowell to replace Sharon Osbourne when she quit the show in 2008 over rows with judge Dannii Minogue.
But despite the pair's chemistry on camera, a source previously told the Sunday People that as far as Cheryl was concerned, it was purely platonic.
"Cheryl and Simon would sit and chat for hours in her dressing room before the show," the insider said.
"She became very keen on him, there was no doubt. But from Cheryl's point of view it was never anything more than a very close friendship.
"There is a big age gap between the pair of them so she always viewed him as an older family member."
Meanwhile, during his bachelor days, sometimes one woman in his bed wasn't enough for Simon.
Speaking in a saucy interview with US shock jock Howard Stern, Simon confessed he once found himself alone with two beautiful ladies and it turned into a threesome in the bedroom.
Discussing the ménage à trois in 2011, Simon said the encounter happened "years ago", adding: "I was just with these two girls and we ended up in bed. It was cool - I liked it."
Simon is currently planning his upcoming wedding to Lauren, who he has been with since 2013.
He asked her to marry him on Christmas Eve in 2021 and Lauren reportedly "burst into tears" when he got down on one knee.
Unsurprisingly, no expense was spared for the special moment, with Simon thought to have spent a jaw-dropping £250,000 on the diamond ring.
Their son Eric played a special part in the proposal, helping his dad to plan the whole thing.
Lauren's son Adam, from a previous marriage, was also present for the occasion.
And while many might expect them to have a lavish wedding ceremony and reception, the couple might have a more 'spontaneous' day than you'd expect.
Simon told The Sun: "I like to make everything spontaneous, and doing that will make it a lot more fun.
"I don't think we'll be getting married in Las Vegas, but whatever we do will definitely be fun."
