After months of negotiations, the pop star has signed her contract to join Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid as a judge on Fox’s The X Factor. Spears finally inked her deal this week, E! News reported. She’ll get $15 million for one season. She had agreed in principle to the deal weeks ago and had spent the last several days working out the fine print, said the story.
At the end of its inaugural season, Cowell fired judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones. Since then, he’s been searching for new judges in hopes of boosting the show’s second-season.
“She’s ready for this,” an insider told E!. “She can’t wait to sit down next to Simon at the judges’ table and give this everything she’s got. She is excited about showing the world that she can do this, and do this well. This is the perfect next stage in her career. Both Britney and Simon are very excited to work together.”
This will be Britney’s first network TV project since her short-lived Britney & Kevin: Chaotic reality series with ex-husband Kevin Federline.
Next, Cowell and the show will finalize the fourth judge (possibly Miley Cyrus or Demi Lovato) and name a new host. That announcement is expected by the time Fox announces its fall schedule at the upfronts on 5/14.
