Simon Cowell offered £88 million pay deal

Wed Jul 01 10:54AM by TV Editor

Simon Cowell

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Simon Cowell has reportedly been offered £88 million to appear on the next series of American Idol.

The deal is four times the £22 million he currently receives for the show and it follows fears from US network Fox that he may quit when his current contract ends next May.

American Idol, which has just finished its eighth season, regularly attracts audiences of up to 25 million in the US.

The news comes days after it was reported that The X Factor judge is setting up a new media company with Top Shop boss Sir Philip Green. The business would see Cowell take full ownership of all of his work, as opposed to just performance fees for appearing on shows such as American Idol and Britain's Got Talent.

A source told the Guardian: "He is past the old-style music deal, where you take a cut as a performer. This is about properly owning himself, Brand Cowell, everything he does, new formats, and new programmes, not just the ones starring him."

Cowell's mammoth pay increase comes at a time when other UK-based stars are facing massive cuts to their salaries. Bruce Forsyth is said to be taking a £160,000 pay cut to present the new series of Strictly Come Dancing, while the presenters on GMTV are facing cuts of up to 25 percent.

Amazingly, if Simon Cowell accepts the offer it won't actually make him the highest paid star on TV. That title belongs to Oprah Winfrey who rakes in an incredible £136 million each year.

Do you think Simon Cowell is worth £88 million? Are TV presenters overpaid or do they represent value for money? Let us know what you think...

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User comments

  • (101)

    NO NO NO no-one is worht that

    Posted by: mjfitchett on Wed Jul 01 02:15PM | Report abuse
  • (102)

    How many deaths could that amount of cash prevent ?

    Posted by: johnproudlock on Wed Jul 01 02:16PM | Report abuse
  • (103)

    lets face it, who would say no to £88 million. Simon might be a penis, but he's a rich penis.

    Posted by: tpennington05 on Wed Jul 01 02:16PM | Report abuse
  • (104)

    We do not want you to lquit....pls pls dont...we gonna miss u.the show will not b complete without you..simon.

    Posted by: merciaernesta on Wed Jul 01 02:16PM | Report abuse
  • (105)

    How can anybody be worth £88m - the fees they get are ridicilous BUT its really the TV companies fault for allowing the salarys to get out of hand. But goodluck to him, if the TV companies will pay it take it like most of us would do. He is a great entertainer, like him or not

    Posted by: peterforcey on Wed Jul 01 02:16PM | Report abuse
  • (106)

    ALL THIS GUY DOES IS REPEAT HIMSELF WHEN HE JUDGES.

    Posted by: leesus10 on Wed Jul 01 02:17PM | Report abuse
  • (107)

    Simon Cowell is well worth £88 million...He is one of the very few TV presenters worth watching!

    Posted by: case_3 on Wed Jul 01 02:17PM | Report abuse
  • (108)

    Thats is pure exploitation. Why should a person get more than what they need when there are a lot of poeple dying of hunger in Africa..

    Posted by: ndandulanamuyamba on Wed Jul 01 02:17PM | Report abuse
  • (109)

    THEY ARE OVERPAID AND IT IS OUTRAGIOUS CONSIDERING THE CRISIS WE LIVE IN!

    Posted by: aidaamad on Wed Jul 01 02:17PM | Report abuse
  • (110)

    Go on Simon, take what you can get, if it was not for you, not many people would watch it !!!! it should be $100 m, just tell them to round it off to 100 m. well done simon good to be brittish

    Posted by: higginslynn on Wed Jul 01 02:18PM | Report abuse