Simon Cowell’s ‘American Idol’ Co-Star Paula Abdul Speaks out Following His Accident

After he suffered a scary accident that required six hours of surgery following a broken back, Simon Cowell is receiving well wishes from one of his former co-stars at American Idol, Paula Abdul. The “Straight Up” singer wrote on Twitter Sunday afternoon that she was keeping him in her thoughts and prayers while hoping for a speedy recovery. Along with Abdul, many of Cowell’s fans reached out to him on social media wishing him the best in his recovery process.

The two spent nine seasons together on American Idol with Abdul also briefly appearing as a guest judge on another one of Cowell’s creators, The X Factor UK. While on Idol, Abdul and Cowell were often viewed as opposites when it came to judging. Abdul was the most optimistic of the three, a panel that also included Randy Jackson, while also being sympathetic to the contestants. Cowell, meanwhile, was the harshest of the three and showed the least amount of compassion in the judging process.

More recently, Abdul popped up in the American Got Talent Season 14 finale, a surprise to Cowell. In an interview with Parade after the scene unfolded, Abdul said it was extremely difficult to keep the secret from him, saying that “the look on his face was priceless” when he saw her come out and perform a dance routine in the final episode of the season.

As for Cowell, news of his crash, which involved a recently purchased electric bike, surfaced in the early morning hours of Sunday. He took the bike out for a test run around the courtyard of his Malibu property before wiping out. He was transported to the hospital where he would be in surgery for up to six hours. That is said to have gone well as he remains in the medical facility in recovery.

With him being bagged up and likely out for quite a while, Cowell, who needed fusions and a metal rod inserted in his back, is already said to be out when it comes to filming the upcoming live episodes of America’s Got Talent scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. More details of Cowell’sscary crash, including how fast he was going when he lost control of his bike, have yet to be revealed.