Simon Cowell's fiancée Lauren Silverman has revealed that she was left 'mortified' after she was removed from the House of Commons.
Britain's Got Talent judge Simon, 66, has been in a relationship with Lauren, 48, since back in 2023. The couple share a 12-year-old son, Eric, and got engaged in December 2021.
While they have not officially tied the knot, Lauren legally changed her last name to Cowell to solidify the unity of their family. Recent years have seen Lauren campaigning for the UK government to raise the age of consent for social media users to 16.
The Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, confirmed on Monday (June 14) that children under the age of 16 will no longer be allowed to go on sites such as TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, X, YouTube, Snapchat and Reddit from spring next year. Additionally, overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18-year-olds are being explored.
Appearing on This Morning on Wednesday (June 17), Lauren spoke to ITV presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard about the news. During the interview, Lauren recalled traveling to the House of Commons earlier in the week.
When Technology Secretary Liz Kendall revealed the ban to those in attendance, an overjoyed Lauren began clapping. However, this led to her removal from the room.
She said: "I'm so embarrassed. Actually, I can laugh about it now, but at the time it wasn't actually very funny. I was there with a group of bereaved families, who I've been working and campaigning with, who are incredible, and some of my fellow campaigners.
"When Liz Kendall came out into the dispatch box to announce the official ban I was so excited, and I started clapping. The next thing I know there's this woman, the speaker in the house, and she was like, 'Remove that woman!'
"So, I literally got taken out of the House of Commons and removed from where we were sat. It was mortifying. It was so embarrassing."
Thankfully, Lauren was allowed back into the room after being kicked out, with Jess Phillips, a Member of Parliament, making sure she was okay. Receiving a hug from the politician, Lauren told her that she was 'so sorry'.
"She was like, 'Oh I don't care about that. Are you OK?' It was so lovely, but it was surreal," she recalled.
When it comes to the social media ban, Lauren believes that there is 'so much more' that needs to be done. She and Simon made the decision to ban their son Eric from social media. The youngster has a phone with 'nothing on it' in terms of apps.
"We've been very strict with him about social media. In terms of having a phone, he does have … I guess you could call it a brick phone.
"It's a smartphone in the sense that it's like an Apple phone, but there's nothing on it. It's completely shut down. So he can text and WhatsApp, but that's it," she said.
Lauren continued: "It's funny, because Simon was ahead of the curve with all this. He was one of the trendsetters with the no phone thing. He ditched his phone about eight years ago.
"I have to say, the difference that it has made on him, in a positive way, it's been extraordinary. I think in terms of just reducing those distractions and the kind of the noise and that feeling, or that kind of pull, that we all inevitably have when you've got a phone sitting next to you, which is constantly just going off.
"I think by not having it, it has just eliminated all that for him, which has been really, really positive."
