Cowell re-signs to ITV for £20 million

Simon Cowell has just signed a new deal with ITV worth a reported £20 million, which puts him ahead of even Jonathan Ross in the 'ridiculously high TV deals' stakes. Cowell, who makes a mint through his US TV projects not to mention his music industry work, all in addition to his ITV commitments, reportedly secured such a highly priced contract with the commercial network by threatening to axe X Factor, one of ITV's few recent real ratings hits. But, needless to say, with the deal done he's now found renewed enthusiasm for the reality show, telling the Sun: "After two and a half years of the X-Factor, I'd pondered whether we were going to carry on. But this series has just been so fantastic. Leona winning means, for once, the best singer in the competition won. I think there is even more we can do with the X Factor".