Lauren Silverman, who is engaged to Simon Cowell, has made a startling admission about her driving license.
The American socialite revealed on Instagram this week that she has unknowingly been driving in the UK without a valid licence for more than a decade.
Despite holding a full US driving licence and a UK provisional licence, Silverman admitted she had no idea that overseas licence holders are only permitted to drive in Britain for 12 months after becoming resident.
‘I’ve been here for 12 years. Oops!’ she wrote, after realising the rule applied to her.
Silverman, 48, said she is now unable to drive at all until she passes both the UK theory and practical driving tests, an outcome she described as deeply frustrating.
‘So until I can pass this bad boy, no more driving for me which means no more freedom or independence,’ she told her followers, adding that she was ‘so bummed’ by the situation and asking for tips on how to pass ‘fast.’
According to official guidance from GOV.UK, drivers can use a full and valid foreign licence in Great Britain for 12 months from the date they become resident.
After that period, they must apply for a GB provisional licence and pass both required tests before driving again.
Failure to do so means a driver is effectively on the road without a valid licence, a situation that can result in fines of up to £1,000, penalty points, potential vehicle seizure, and invalid insurance.
The timing is especially inconvenient as Silverman has just returned to the UK after a festive family holiday in Barbados with her fiancé, Simon Cowell, their 11-year-old son Eric, and her eldest son Adam, 19.
Now back in London, she faces the distinctly unglamorous prospect of studying the Highway Code and booking test slots.
Still, Silverman appears resigned to the process, writing: ‘It’s got to be done.’
The Pop Idol, X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent creator, started dating Lauren in 2013, with the pair first linked when she separated from her former husband Andrew Silverman.
The couple’s son Eric was born in February 2014, and, in January 2022, it was announced that Simon had proposed to his partner a few weeks earlier.
Although they’ve largely remained tight-lipped on any wedding plans in the years since, some suspect they have already privately gotten married.
Lauren, who is the mother of Simon’s only child, deleted her old Instagram account in October 2025 and created a new one which shows she has taken his surname.
The new account LaurenMichelleCowell is private but has the bio ‘Mom to Adam and Eric 🩷’ and is followed by her good friend Lauren Sanchez.
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