'He was extremely upset': Simon Cowell's older brother Tony reveals how music mogul supported him through secret cancer battle

Simon Cowell’s older brother Tony has revealed how the music mogul supported him as he secretly beat cancer.

The author, 73, revealed he fought the illness last year but is now in remission after an NHS op and chemo.

Speaking about his younger brother Simon, Tony, who was diagnosed with stage 2 bladder cancer, told The Sun: ‘I could hear he was extremely upset — I had to calm him down. He then switched and became Mr Helpful.’

After Tony found blood in his urine he revealed: ‘I went straight to my GP, who said it was a sign of bladder cancer. I didn’t know what to say to Emma or my son Luke.’

After a trip to Greece with his wife Emma, 46, who is also an author, Tony realised it was time to see a doctor.

Tough: Simon Cowell’s older brother Tony has revealed how the music mogul supported him as he secretly beat cancer

Getting better: The author, 73, revealed he was battling stage 2 bladder cancer last year but is now in remission after an NHS op and chemo

Emma was working on her newly released second novel, The House in the Olive Grove, which has a character with cancer in it.

She has now spoke on when they first discovered he had cancer. She said: ‘I was halfway through the novel and I was talking to Tony about it and how the people were affected.

‘It is so deeply ironic then that a week later we were those characters.’

Tony added: ‘Suddenly fiction looked like it was becoming fact.’

It comes after Simon proved that he doesn’t mind poking fun at his own expense after making a dig about his changing face on Britain’s Got Talent.

The music mogul previously baffled viewers with his noticeably different complexion, despite denying he has had a facelift.

And on Saturday night’s show, Simon played up to the wagging tongues and passed a cheeky comment about his face.

The surprising swipe came after one hopeful, Tom Crosbie, impressed the judges by creating Bruno Tonioli ‘s face from a Rubik’s Cubes.

While the finished result was being shown to the panel, Amanda Holden, 52, seized the opportunity to crack a joke about Bruno, 67, and pointed out: ‘Well, he’s got the orange [face] right!

‘How the hell do you do that?’ a totally baffled Simon asked, while the artist responded: ‘Practice…turns out you have a really difficult face to make out of Rubik’s Cubes.’

It was at that point that Simon quipped: ‘I’ll change my face…again.’

Viewers were tickled by Simon’s swipe at himself and took to Twitter with crying laughing and skull emojis.

Speaking about his younger brother Simon, Tony, who was diagnosed with stage 2 bladder cancer, told The Sun : ‘I could hear he was extremely upset — I had to calm him down. He then switched and became Mr Helpful.’

Last month, Simon insisted he has never had a facelift after presenters Ant & Dec made a cheeky quip about his changing appearance.

At the time, Dec, 47, told the audience: ‘We have a new face joining the judging panel’ to which his comedy partner, also 47, replied: ‘What? Simon has a new face?’.

Speaking to The Mirror Simon laughed off the suggestion he had gone under the knife, despite his drastically altered features.

He told the publication: ‘I think it’s hysterical. I mean, it just makes me laugh. I haven’t had a facelift or anything.’

‘I’ve had a bit of Botox or whatever, but nothing drastic,’ he added.

So when I hear about this stuff, honestly it does make me laugh’.

Earlier this week, Simon admitted that he started seeing a therapist a year ago as a way of dealing with the stress of his work life.

The industry big dog revealed he wished he had sought therapy 20 years ago and that talking to a professional is ‘nothing to be ashamed of’.

Speaking at the Advertising Week Europe event, the Britain’s Got Talent judge, said: ‘I started to see a therapist a year ago.

‘I wish I’d done it 20 years ago, because this is a very stressful business.’

In recent times, Simon has sparked concern with his radically different facial features , looking unrecognisable notably in a Britain’s Got Talent promo .

Th e record label boss sparked concern with his ‘unrecognisable’ appearance at the Royal Variety Performance , which was filmed on December 2 and aired on ITV later that month.

As Simon was introducing BGT winner Axel Blake, he left TV viewers distracted by his incredibly smooth visage, that may be the result of cosmetic surgery, with one asking: ‘What’s he done to himself?’.

The talent show boss recently revealed that he took his love of Botox too far, with his final treatment leaving him looking like ‘something out of a horror show’.

According to The Sun , Simon said he decided to stop when his strange appearance left son Eric, eight, in hysterics.

No chance: Simon Cowell has insisted he has never had a facelift after Ant & Dec made a cheeky quip about his changing appearance (left in September 2022, right in 2002)

The former X Factor judge, who shares his son with partner Lauren Silverman, 44, revealed that as a result he no longer has any filler in his face.

He has also been showing off his much slimmer figure after dropping three stone and wearing a surgical back brace, as of late, to aid his recovery after nearly being paralysed in a bike accident in 2020.

The businessman broke his back in 2020 in a fall from an electric bike he was testing at his home in Malibu, California. He had six hours of surgery. T here was another setback after he fell from his bike again a year later.

The former X Factor star has since shed three stone after overhauling his diet and lifestyle to help with his recovery.