Much gossip in the US about tensions between the judges on 'American Idol' after it was revealed Simon Cowell is on £19 million for his work on the pop talent show - something which is, let's not forget, only a part time pursuit for the X-Factor/SyCo chief.
The show's former Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe recently confirmed Cowell's astronomical fee, but argued he was worth it. He also confirmed Cowell's fellow judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson were paid quite a bit less.
On Cowell's fee and the discrepancies between him and Abdul and Jackson, Lythgoe told Forbes: "There is always jealousy in every job. Why is he getting more than the other two judges? Because it is believed that he brings more to the table. He has actually handled his negotiations quite brilliantly. He's only ever negotiated by the year. And now he is getting something like £11,892 per minute".
While it's unclear whether Abdul and Jackson are really in the dark and/or pissed off about Cowell's fee, MSNBC quote an associate of the former thus: "Paula knew that Simon was getting paid more, but she never imagined it was this much more. This could really put her in a bad way".