The Sandy Lane sun club
SIMON Cowell is demonstrating one tried and tested way to weather a storm – head for calmer waters in a sunnier clime.
While 1,500 complaints have flooded into Ofcom about X Factor voting, the smiling judge has jetted off for a holiday in Barbados.
Cowell, 48, flew away just hours after the annual ITV talent show finale on Saturday night, then headed straight for the beach with girlfriend Terri Seymour, 33.
But the bronzed and buff pair are not the only celebrities who have opted to spend the festive season enjoying some sun and sand.
Also swapping a gloomy Christmas for the perfect white beaches of the Caribbean are Topshop chief Sir Philip Green, ex-film director Michael Winner and Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones. Most of the celebrities are planning to spend Christmas at the luxurious Sandy Lane resort, known to locals as “billionaires’ playground”.
Double rooms at the exclusive complex – which boasts its own beach, jet-skis and a 24-hour butler service – can cost from around £3,000 a night.
But the prospect of an enormous bill is unlikely to worry any of the multi-millionaires, not least Cowell, who is said to be worth more than £100million thanks to all of his television projects, including The X Factor which he co-produces.
About £10million of his annual earnings are thought to come from the ITV show and its spin-off merchandising. He is said to earn more than £1million a year as an X Factor judge.
The music mogul will also make an estimated £6million from Leon Jackson, the singer who has just won the show and been signed up to Cowell’s record label, Syco. Millions of pounds more will come from last year’s winner, singing sensation Leona Lewis, who has topped the album charts for months.
Lewis’ album Spirit is currently the fastest selling British record of all time.
But while Cowell rakes in the cash, viewers have been complaining to media watchdog Ofcom that voting lines for contestant Rhydian Roberts were “blocked” on Saturday night. The blond Welshman had been the bookies’ favourite for months, but came in second at the last minute. Now it is rumoured that he too has struck a deal with Cowell’s record label.
Scandal or no scandal, Cowell looked like a man without a care in the world yesterday as he swapped his trademark high-waisted trousers for shorts.
He has been spotted dining at some of the island’s most expensive eateries and has twice taken a jet-ski for a spin since his arrival.
