Simon Cowell and his siblings are remembering their mum Julie two years after her death. Simon's brother Tony has taken to Twitter to pay tribute to the former ballet dancer, sharing a photo of himself with his mum and writing: "Remembering Mother Cowell today. Two years ago today she passed and we still love her dearly. So many memories. Sleep well mum x."
At the time, Simon and his family were left heartbroken after Julie died of a stroke. She had reportedly spent time in a London hospital enduring a lengthy health battle, which Simon had chosen to keep private. In a statement, the Cowell family said: "Today our beloved mum Julie passed away. Anyone who had met her would know what a truly special and kind lady she was. We are heartbroken and will miss her terribly, but she is now at peace."
Simon Cowell's brother Tony paid tribute to their mum
Two days after his mother's death, Simon was back at work for The X Factor auditions. He explained his swift return on Loose Women, saying: "She was a huge fan of the show, she loved the show which sort of made the decision, 'When do you go back to work on something like this?' because it's hard and it really was what I thought she would have said to me which was, 'No 100 per cent you've got to go back to work.'"
Julie was a mother to four boys – Nicholas, Simon, Tony and Michael – and step-mother to John and June Cowell. She was incredibly close to the X Factor head judge, and loved seeing him settle down with American partner Lauren Silverman and have a son, Eric, now three. Julie was always an incredible source of strength for Simon, particularly after the TV star lost his dad, Eric, in 1999. Eric died at home from a heart attack and opening up to Piers Morgan, Simon recalled: "I can't lie, it was the worst day of my life. It was a horrible, horrible time."
