Ever since the news of Paul Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger’s departure/sacking from The X FactorUSA rumours of mega-star replacements have been swirling around.
There’s been talk of Simon Cowell approaching Mariah Carey, and even more excitingly Beyonce. Bey signing on as a judge seems like an impossibility, until you consider that Katie Price just appeared on frickin’ Newsnight.
However, the boss man himself has now dismissed the reports that he’s lining up big name replacements for the second series of the US version of the show, stating that having a super star on board doesn’t guarantee a successful show.
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“When we first launched Pop Idol in the UK years ago, we didn't think for one second there had to be an A-list star on the panel. Everyone on the panel was really unknown.” Simon said on Extra.
“Firstly, they are incredibly expensive - that is millions you lose on something else. Secondly, they have to make the time commitment and on my show, they have to work five days a week. Thirdly, they have to be interesting.”
Si-Co then had a thinly veiled pop at his old show American Idol – who have Jennifer Lopez on their panel – claiming that he is not interested in an A-liser competition,
“I'm not playing this game where we have to compete on the level of A-lister stars… you can lose focus on what the show is all about, and at the end of the day the most important thing is the contestants.
“I read that online that I offered [Beyoncé] $100 million a year. The budget for the show is $100 million. That would never, ever happen. It's absolute nonsense… Even if you had that kind of money. I wouldn't spend $100 million on one person.”
We love Bey, but we can totally see that Simon has a point here!