simon cowellSimon Cowell has confirmed he’s split from long-term girlfriend Terri Seymour.

The couple were said to have been having problems earlier in the year but his spokesperson Max Clifford said yesterday that the split only happened six weeks ago.

Clifford explained: “Terri phoned Simon and finished it in September, about six weeks ago.

“They are going to remain close friends. Simon thinks the world of Terri and that isn’t going to change. He also understands her reason for ending it.”

Sources close to the X Factor judge say he was “hugely relieved” when Terri made the call. One friend told the Mail on Sunday: “Anyone who knows Simon has known that his relationship with Terri was over months ago, but she’s very fragile and he didn’t want to hurt her.

“She wanted kids with Simon desperately, but he wasn’t interested in starting a family or getting married.

“She has been a weight around his neck for a long time but the problem was that his mother absolutely adored Terri and thought the world of her, so Simon was in a bit of a rut.

‘Now, Terri has moved on and Simon is hugely relieved. He said, ‘Thank God’ when he heard Terri .. had met someone else. She [had been] clinging to Simon and something that didn’t really exist between them any more.

“She told him in September that she had met someone, and Simon basically said, ‘Go for it’. I still think there was a bit of Terri that was hoping Simon would say he wanted to marry her.”

The couple began dating in 2002 and Clifford added: “Simon is doing alright, but they were together a long time and so you can understand that it’s going to be a strange time.

“They will stay friends. He thinks the world of her.”