It was wildly denied at the time, but now Simon Cowell has admitted Britney Spears did try and quit The X Factor USA.
Britney Spears stormed off the set on her first day of judging the talent show after she suffered a panic attack. The auditions were in Austin, Texas at the time.
Despite claiming that it was all just a storm in a teacup at the time, Simon has now admitted he ‘half-lied’ and Britney did in fact want to quit the show permanently.
'See ya!'
He told TMZ: “No one is going to admit that on the first day your highest paid star after 20 minutes has walked off set.”
Britney is reportedly getting $15 million for her time on the show.
The 52-year-old has now said that Britney, 30, “had a moment on the first day where she said to me ‘I'm not sure I can do this.’”
The big man said he used all of his powers persuasion to convince the Toxic star to stay.
At the time, Britney took to Twitter to quash rumours she’d stormed off, saying: “#Britneywalksoff??? LOL was just taking a little break people. I am having the BEST time!!!”
And Simon said: “There was no walking off. We have breaks every five or six songs. You can go have a cigarette, you can go to the loo (toilet). So as soon as anyone left their chairs, it was reported... that someone had left the show - and they hadn't!”
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Why Britney stormed off
It was reported at the time that Britney stormed off after a contestant did a bad version of her song Hold It Against Me.
An eyewitness says she was escorted off by her fiancé Jason Trawick, who’s been keeping a close eye on Britney during her time on The X Factor USA.
Britney with her fellow X Factor USA judges
She was absent for four auditions before she came back to join fellow judges Simon, Demi Lovato and LA Reid.
She also stormed off again during an audition in Kansas when a contestant was rude to her.
Reports later emerged she is believed to suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, but is unable to take medication for it.