I find this hard to believe, but the British tabloid, The Mirror, is reporting that Simon Cowell is close to signing a deal to bring back X Factor to the United States:
Executives at his company Syco are in the final stages of securing a deal – most likely back with Fox – after staff put together a new proposal which has been “well received”.
It means Simon, 55, who returned to the British judging panel this year with Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, may leave the UK – as he did in 2010 when the US show first launched.
He is believed to be eager to sign up singer Nicole Scherzinger, 36, who was a judge on the UK show for two series.
X Factor was cancelled earlier this year after 3 seasons. The last season of X Factor, which aired in the fall of 2013, earned a 1.7 rating and 6.22 viewers. The ratings declined every season it aired. I find it hard to believe FOX would bring back a low rated show that it cancelled.
MAYBE if they planned to air it on one of their basic cable channels, like FX or FXX. I could see AXS, which is currently airing the X Factor UK a day after it airs in Britain, signing a deal with Simon for the US version. Or perhaps one of the other many US cable channels on the dial will pick it up. But FOX? Why would they?
Also making this report kinda fishy? That Simon wants to bring back Nicole Scherzinger to the judges panel. She was a joke. The worst judge they had. Yes, even worse than Britney Spears. Between Nicole’s histrionics, dumb comments and even dumber song choices, she was unbearable to watch.
What I DON’T doubt is that Simon is trying to sell the show in the US market again. He said as much in a recent interview, where he declared, “I think it will come back again.” He went on to detail what he thought went wrong, and why all parties SHOULD have stuck with it. “If we said, ‘There’s a low base of five to six million’, we might build on that…,” said Simon. Honestly, I think that ship has sailed…and sunk.
“A lot of work has gone into bringing the US X Factor back, so hopefully it will all now go ahead without any glitches.” The Mirror source said.
“Staff have put together a new proposal which has been very well received. Everyone is determined to make this work.
“There will be absolutely no question that he will be on the judging panel.”
I’m taking this report with a huge grain of salt.
UPDATE: Gossip Cop claims to have talked to SYCO reps, who shot down the report:
But Gossip Cop is told that the Mirror has gotten way ahead of itself. One source exclusively tells Gossip Cop, “This is just idle, speculative, pre-mature gossip from rumor-mongers presuming way, way too much.” While it seems “The X Factor” could make a U.S. comeback at some point down the road, the details currently being spread are incorrect. As they say in showbiz, stay tuned!
