Cowell still to sign new contract
Simon Cowell is yet to sign his new contract with ITV.
The music mogul has been offered a £12m (€13.3m) two-year deal by the network but hasn’t agreed to it as he is holding out for an extra £3m (€3.3m) to make ‘The X Factor’, which he produces and heads up the judging panel.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “Simon is committed to the show but only if ITV will pay up. He wants to get over 20 million viewers this year, but has told them to do this they need to put more cash in.
“They are trying to work out if that’s necessary as it is already the biggest TV show.”
Simon – who recently announced plans to take ‘The X Factor’ to America – wants £300,000 (€330,000) more for each of the 10 live final shows for the seventh series, which starts preliminary auditions next month but without the judges.
The show’s other judges – Cheryl Cole, Louis Walsh and pregnant Dannii Minogue – are yet to sign their deals.
Simon has already sorted out the money for his other reality show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, which starts next month.
The source added: “‘Got Talent’ is all systems go. ‘X Factor’ is the sticking point.”
An ITV spokesman said: “Discussions are well advanced.”
