British TV and music mogul Simon Cowell, who had long said fatherhood was not in his plans, welcomed a son on Friday, his representative AnnMarie Thomson said.
The former American Idol judge's girlfriend, Lauren Silverman, gave birth to the 2.9kg boy in New York. It is her second child and Cowell's first.
Cowell, 54, who gained fame as an acid-tongued judge on television singing contests in the United States (US) and his native Britain, has never married.
"I'm not brilliant with babies," Cowell told US magazine Parade last October. "I never know what to do. But (once he's older) I think I'll be a good dad in terms of advice."
Silverman's pregnancy first came to light last year when her ex-husband filed for divorce in New York and naming Cowell as a co-respondent.
Cowell's The X Factor contest was cancelled last week by US broadcaster Fox, and he said that he would return to the judges panel on its United Kingdom counterpart amid sagging ratings.
