Simon Cowell celebrates his 50th birthday

It was the hottest ticket in town this weekend, the party everybody wanted to be at, the party everybody was at.

Simon Cowell’s birthday bash was no modest affair: Reportedly costing a whopping £1million, Mr Cowell invited his nearest and dearest (all 400 of them) to celebrate in style at stately mansion, Wrotham Park in Barnet, Hertfordshire.

Lucky revellers were ferried in from central London in a fleet of limousines and greeted by a 60ft projection of Simon’s face on the grand façade of the mansion. The event was coordinated by Sir Philip Green and his wife Tina along with posh party planners Banana Split.

Guests dined on an elegant menu of prawn and lobster martinis (don’t worry, we weren’t sure what that might be either), chicken soup with alphabet pasta, supposedly spelling out Simon’s name, shepherd’s pie and fish fingers. More great British classics were served up for dessert: Apple pie, rice pudding and the humble bread and butter pudding.

It was an A-list affair with guests including fellow X-Factor judges Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh, Britain’s Got Talent judges Amanda Holden and Pierce Morgan, Kate Moss and boyfriend Jamie Hince, Holly Willoughby, Myleene Klass, Claudia Winkleman, Leona Lewis, Naomi Campbell, comedians James Cordon and David Walliams, Gordon and Tana Ramsay and Sir Alan Sugar. Simon’s American’s Got Talent colleagues, Randy Jackson, David Hasselhoff, Paula Abdul and Ryan Seacrest were also in attendance. The guestlist included axed X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent judges Sharon Osbourne and Kelly Brooke and perhaps more surprisingly many of Simon’s ex-girlfriends including Sinitta and Terri Seymour.


Image: Arriving in style, Simon Cowell ditches his trademark t-shirts but  sadly not his high-waisted kecks.