Simon Cowell says he isn't proud of how his relationship with Lauren Silverman started — as an affair with the wife of one of his best friends — but he says being a father has changed his life for the better.
Cowell and Silverman, who finalized her divorce from Andrew Silverman in November, welcomed their son Eric in February.
Simon Cowell: "I was born to be a dad"
"I regret that part," Cowell tells the UK's Mirror about the affair. "But then of course you have a baby and you look at the baby and you kind of go, 'This is what happened from it. ... It is not something I am proud of or wanted to happen in terms of hurting anyone. It just happened."
With The X Factor not returning to Fox, Cowell is now turning his attention to Britain's Got Talent. He and Silverman are now living together to raise Eric (who is named after Cowell's father) in Cowell's West London mansion.
"You have to deal with it and man up to it. You have to accept the responsibility and the criticism," Cowell says. "My life has changed, but I am probably more focused on what I am doing now than I was a year ago. Maybe because it puts things in perspective having two people in my life who I am responsible for. ... Now the house is full of people, it has become a home rather than a house."