After just one season, The X Factor lost two judges and a host because of mediocre ratings. Executive producer Simon Cowell is now taking part of the blame, telling Extra that his expectations for the show’s performance were too high.
"It's only because I opened my big mouth and said we were going to get 20 million [viewers]. If I hadn't said that, everybody would be saying the show was a huge success,” the media mogul says.
Because of the lukewarm response to season 1, Cowell and other X Factor bosses decided to make major changes to the cast. Host Steve Jones and judge Nicole Scherzinger were sacked, but the real surprise came when Cowell confirmed his close friend and longtime colleague Paula Abdul also got axed.
Cowell, 52, tells Extra he “would’ve liked to have kept her,” but he had to make a decision based on business. “She was very gracious and I said that to her. She understands it's business; it's never personal,” he says.
As for rumors on who has been offered Scherzinger and Abdul’s vacant seats at the judge’s table, Cowell says Beyonce and Mariah Carey are not among the potential replacements. He calls reports he offered Beyonce $100 million to become a judge “complete nonsense” and says Mariah would not be a good fit because her twins would prevent her from being able to make a commitment to the show.
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