Rumors about Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul leaving American Idol have been swirling around the internet for awhile now. Now it appears the rumors are true. Simon Cowell, 49, is leaving American Idol next year and Paula Abdul is leaving American Idol too. Sharp-tongued American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, told the Daily Mirror in 2007 that by the time he turns 50 in 2010 the public would be sick of him anyway and he’d be quitting American Idol.
Simon Cowell, who is also a judge on UK’s X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent (BGT), told the Mirror’s Alun Palmer in the 2007 interview: “There has to come a point when I will step down from being on camera and remain behind the scenes because you can’t keep doing this forever. I have three more seasons under contract with American Idol and that will be it. And it will probably come at the same time in the UK. I am contracted for another two or three seasons in Britain and I think by that point the public will be sick to death of me anyway and it will be time to go.”
In a recent interview with the British newspaper, Simon Cowell says his reasons for leaving American Idol are due to his grueling and hectic schedule, and that he cannot keep up with the hectic workload much longer.
“But there is a point where I am not sure we can keep this schedule up. It takes longer and longer to make these shows because you have to put more into them, and I am not sure we can sustain me doing three shows a year, with the record label and the TV production company.
“Most people do one show a year and I do three and they involve a lot of travelling. One may have to go. I don’t know which one. That is the problem, I like all of them. I can’t imagine not doing Britain’s Got Talent and I can’t imagine not doing X Factor. But I guess America is more likely to go because I have got one year under contract. Maybe that will be the end.”
