In one of those ‘too crazy to be true’ stories, Cowell was reportedly on board his yacht with his ex Sinitta when they heard an emergency call from another boat.

 

Cowell immediately steered his boat over to find the ship in trouble, while Sinitta wrote on Twitter: “Just had a May Day message , 35ft boat sinking. Simon Cowell has sent us to help and rescue 9 people on board.”

 

When they found the boat, she added: “Everyone ok, no one hurt. Captain won’t let boat sink, petrol in sea etc would cause major problems and fines.

 

“No tide, so hole plugged.”

 

Cowell sailed close by and sent out a smaller boat to help the one in trouble, rescuing the passengers.

 

A spokesman for Cowell confirmed he was currently on holiday in the South of France and said like all good seafarers he knew to help out in the event of an emergency call.

 

The spokesman added: “I don’t know about the boat, but Simon said all the passengers are OK which is the main thing.”

 

An ITV chief recently confirmed that Cowell will appear on this year’s X Factor in ‘some guise.’