Cowell: I didn't have a breakdown (From Salisbury Journal)

Cowell: I didn't have a breakdown

1:11pm Wednesday 12th September 2012 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Simon Cowell has dismissed speculation that he had a breakdown.

The TV mogul was said to have suffered a devastating collapse this summer as strains in his work and his personal life became too much.

Author Tom Bower said, in an updated chapter to his book on the star, that Simon had to withdraw from filming auditions for the US X Factor when his lifestyle saw him change into a "weird vampire".

But Simon told ITV1 show Daybreak: "Reports of my, whatever it was, are a little bit exaggerated.

"I mean I did turn my phone off for six weeks, because you know I had a lot going on."

He added: "I would do it again next year. Just switch off, yeah, switch off for six weeks, concentrate on all the things that are important, and you don't get all these crazy text messages and stuff."