Simon Cowell has sparked speculation he is leaving ‘The X Factor’ again.
The 55-year-old music mogul – who left the talent show in 2011 to launch the programme in America – only returned this year but could be off at the end of the series because he has several US projects in the pipeline.
He said: "There’s another show that I will be on in America — a new one, which we’ve been working on for a few months.
"Next year we’ll have a minimum of four shows on US networks."
Meanwhile, Simon said goodbye to another of his acts, Stevi Ritchie, at the weekend but with two of his Over 25s – Fleur East and Ben Haenow – down to the final five, he thinks either of them could win the show.
He told The Sun newspaper: "As long as Fleur and Ben are in there, we’ll have a proper final — where you just don’t know who’s gonna win.
"I love that idea."
However, one person Simon doesn’t want to see in the final is Andrea Faustini, who competed with Stevi in the sing-off on Sunday (23.11.14).
Asked if he thinks Andrea – who is mentored by Mel B – should be in the final, he said: "No, because I think he’s peaked. It’s the same thing week after week."
And the judge – who has 10-month-old son Eric with girlfriend Lauren Silverman – wasn’t impressed by the Italian’s performance at the weekend.
He said: "I actually watched it back at home and didn’t think he sounded great and I told Mel that, so she got the needle with me.
"So when he was in the bottom I was kind of gloating a little bit."
Simon Cowell to quit X Factor?
