Simon Cowell admits affair, battle with depression

Though Simon Cowell's affair with his friend's wife was widely reported last summer, the 54-year-old media mogul has stayed mum until recently.

In a candid interview with the UK's The Mirror, he admitted that he does "regret" embarking on a relationship while Lauren Silverman while she was still married to his friend, Andrew Silverman -- "but then of course you have a baby and you look at the baby and you kinda go, 'This is what happened from it.' In this situation you are not going to come out of this well because of the circumstances."

The first time dad is obviously overjoyed by his beautiful baby boy, but he does continue to admit to the wrongdoing that resulted in little Eric's birth. (E! reports that Lauren, who has a 7-year-old from her previous marriage, officially got divorced in December.)

"It is not something I am proud of or wanted to happen in terms of hurting anyone. It just happened. You have to deal with it and man up to it. You have to accept the responsibility and the criticism. All I can say is, my advice to you is if it happens to you, you just have to deal with it a day at a time and own up to your responsibilities."

Simon reveals that before the baby, he suffered from depression. He blames his long working hours and being alone. "Did a doctor say I was depressed? Yeah. I mean, I knew it myself. You are always looking for the next high from the show, and then actually you haven't got anyone to share it with per say, or if you haven't got any family around you, you can go a bit nuts."