Millionaire music mogul Simon Cowell is eyeing another big payday - he is taking his smash hit U.K. show The X Factor to the States.
Cowell found fame with his role as a judge on Pop Idol in Britain and on American Idol in the U.S. in 2002, earning a 'Mr Nasty' reputation for his cutting comments and biting put-downs.
In 2004, he launched The X Factor - a search for new singing sensations which regularly draws an audience of millions in the U.K. and discovered Bleeding Love hitmaker Leona Lewis.
Cowell has long been rumoured to be considering launching The X Factor stateside - and he has now confirmed it will happen.
He tells BBC's Newsnight, "I think the show will go to America. It has to go to America. There has to be an American version of the show. To not make The X Factor in the biggest market in the world would be crazy."