Lauren Silverman: Who is the mother of Simon Cowell’s child?

A close friend of Simon Cowell confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that socialite Lauren Silverman – the wife of Cowell’s friend Andrew Silverman – was expecting his child, and claimed she wanted to marry him.

Although Lauren and her husband Andrew Silverman, who have a son together, have holidayed together on numerous occasions over the past four years, it wasn’t until they ended their union around a year ago that her friendship with Simon Cowell turned to romance.

Meanwhile, Simon Cowell’s mother, Julie, 87, seemed thrilled at the prospect of becoming a grandmother, telling The Sun: “I’ve not heard anything officially. But if it’s true then I’m absolutely delighted. It’s wonderful! He’ll make a fantastic father. He’ll be great.”

And Lauren Silverman’s stepmother confirmed she was expecting a child with the music mogul. Rosy Davis, who is the wife of the socialite’s father Steven, spoke of the family’s joy at the news: “We are all excited for the baby. It’s beautiful. We feel blessed. Any kid is a blessing.”

Lauren Silverman is said to be “around 10 weeks along” in the pregnancy, according to Us Weekly magazine.

Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman’s situation is made more complicated by the fact that she is still married to Andrew.

However, some reports claim that the property magnate filed for divorce earlier this month.

Lauren and Andrew Silverman, who have a seven-year-old son called Adam, are now officially separated. It is not known whether Andrew Silverman filed the legal papers after learning of his wife’s pregnancy with Simon Cowell, although their break-up does leave his estranged wife free to start a new life with the music mogul.

Andrew Silverman is being represented by Manhattan family lawyers Cohen Goldstein and filed his affidavit on July 24.

Simon Cowell and Lauren Silverman are believed to have met while on vacation in Barbados some years ago through Andrew Silverman.

However, a source revealed that there had been issues in the Silvermans’ marriage right from the start – as Andrew Silverman’s parents Eleonora and Allen never attended their wedding.

Andrew Silverman now believes Lauren started cheating on him with Simon Cowell during one of the many vacations they all shared together.

A source told Usmagazine.com: “Lauren and Andrew have been unhappy in their marriage for some time, and their divorce has been in the works for a while. As their marriage deteriorated, she and Simon became close.”

Simon Cowell, 53, and Lauren Silverman, 36, have been seeing each for at least a year, according to friends, and were even seen viewing houses together in Los Angeles earlier this year.

The music mogul made no reference to impending fatherhood when he opened up to Chelsea Handler during an interview on her talk show on Tuesday night, sticking to topics including One Direction and his recent health kick.

It remains to be seen just how the news that he is to be a father will go down with Simon Cowell, who has never made a secret of the fact that he doesn’t believe he is the right material to become a parent.