Simon Cowell is reportedly set to sign in the next few weeks for Britain's Got Talent and X Factor to air on ITV until at least the end of 2019.
Insiders at ITV told Square Eyes that Simon will see a dip in his personal pay packet, which last time around was worth £25million over three years.
But it will mean his shows stay on the channel until at least the end of 2019 with a multi-million pound production budget available.
When Simon was asked about the pay cut, he said: “We are all in that boat, aren’t we? That’s the way life goes.".
“It is nothing I am particularly worried about, to be honest. I am more keen we settle the shows for the producers we hire and everyone else.
“We want to give everyone the reassurance that we are going to have another three years guaranteed, which is always nice news to tell the team because they have been with us a long time. Overall I am happy. I always feel we are in a fortunate position because we have two shows that have been on air for a long, long time now.
“Even though the numbers fluctuate, when you look at what everyone else is doing, they have held up incredibly well. Both shows have got passionate audiences, particularly X Factor. It also brings in younger viewers and the advertisers love it.”
Talking about ITV, Simon said: “There was speculation before that The Voice might replace us on ITV but we were given the assurance from Day One that it would never happen.“We were never feeling insecure about it, plus we had lots of offers from other people to buy the shows – so we were in a good position.”
Judges auditions for X Factor are due to start in June. Who will sit on the judging panel? Although nothing has been confirmed yet, Louis Walsh has given strong hints he is back. Nicole Scherzinger has pulled out of the musical Cats on Broadway, this indicates she will be back. Simon is said to be pulling out all the stops to get Sharon Osbourne to join the panel.
