Simon Cowell's Costly Return

British record boss Simon Cowell has promised to return to American TV for a third series of AMERICAN IDOL - but only if he's offered an enormous fee.

Cowell revealed yesterday (25JUN03) on the HOWARD STERN show he's negotiating with network Fox to return for next season - and he's hoping to pick up a staggering $10 million (GBP6.25 million).

Cowell later admitted to not knowing how much he expected to prise from Fox. But he remained confident an agreement would be reached, saying, "I have no clue to what the figure is. My gut feeling is we're going to do a deal."