Simon Cowell is already working again after breaking his back – and is set to return to TV next month.

The X Factor judge is known in the business as a workaholic and was sending emails from his hospital bed just hours after he had emergency surgery.

The 60-year-old fell off a new electric bike he was trying out at home in Malibu, California, and broke his back in several places.

A source close to Cowell said he was resigned to missing America’s Got Talent shows this week but hoped to recover for programmes later in the series.

They added: “Nothing is definitive as yet but we very much hope Simon will be well enough to attend both the AGT final on September 23 and the Britain’s Got Talent live final in the UK in October.

“The semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent clash with AGT filming, so he was never going to be able to return to the UK for those shows in the coming weeks, but we are still looking at whether he can appear remotely.

“The accident has thrown the planning up in the air, but provided Simon listens to doctors and gets some rest, we hope to see him back on screen soon.