Beyoncé Knowles 'offered 500m X Factor deal'

03 February 2012Beyoncé Knowles has reportedly been offered $500 million to become a judge on the US X Factor.

Simon Cowell is said to be desperate to get the global pop sensation on board in a bid to boost the show's ratings this year.

The singing contest premiered across the pond in 2011 with a judging panel of Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and Simon.

It only managed to pull in half of the 20 million viewers Cowell was hoping for and this week he announced Paula and Nicole won't be returning.

"[Cowell] wants a big name female star on the panel," a source told website Media Takeout. "Mariah [Carey] is good, but she's not that hot today. He wants Beyoncé because that would immediately give him the bounce needed to beat American Idol."

If Beyoncé signed the five-year deal it could make her one of the highest paid stars in the entertainment industry, bagging a massive $100 million per series.

However, the singer only gave birth to daughter Blue Ivy a few weeks ago so it is unknown whether she will want to return to work so soon.

After axing Paula, Nicole and host Steve Jones, Simon released a statement expressing his gratitude to them for their work.

"I want to say a massive thank you to Paula, Nicole and Steve for being part of The X Factor last year," Simon said. "We had a lot of fun making the show together... I'm sure all three are going to have massive success in what they do next, but now is the time to thank them all for everything they did last year." © Cover Media