Book reveals Cowell breakdown

Simon Cowell had a breakdown earlier this summer, it has emerged.

The TV mogul suffered a collapse as the strains of managing his working life - which includes a portfolio of shows including 'The X Factor' in the UK and US, 'Britain's Got Talent' and 'America's Got Talent' - became too much for him.

Cowell reportedly had to take a step back from auditions for this year's 'X Factor' in the US after he feared his lifestyle was making him into a "weird vampire".

In an updated new chapter of his book, 'Sweet Revenge - The Intimate Life of Simon Cowell', Tom Bower says the TV star told his close friend and 'X Factor' colleague Louis Walsh: "I don't want any more tablets and pills. I'm cutting out the lot, including cigarettes.

"I desperately need peace. I'm craving normality. I've got to work out my demons and come out of it.

"I have to get back to where I was years ago. I had to stop reading texts at three in the morning and making calls later and later. I wanted peace."

Simon, 52, later told friends that the pressures of constantly flying between the US and the UK were getting too much for him, saying: "My life was like a night shift. I'd forgotten the sensation of the morning."

Meanwhile, Playboy model Danielle Delaney has made claims she had a seven-year on-off relationship with the star.

The 35-year-old actress claims she was seduced by the TV boss and once even got intimate with him in the back of his limousine as he took her to his £15m (€11.7m) Los Angeles mansion.

A source close to Delaney said: "She had an amazing night with Simon. She described him as an amazing kisser, and said he really knew how to treat a lady.

"Danielle stayed at Simon's home until at least 4am, then he called his driver to take her to a hotel."