But the Daily Mail says Dannii will be back
The Sun published a piece on 29th January by Sara Nathan claiming that executives on The X Factor are planning to axe Dannii Minogue "but only if a replacement can be found".
The X Factor's PR department will no doubt be as active this year as they were in previous years but what is all this about? When Sharon Osbourne was replaced there were no PR releases before the event was announced.
So why make this announcement? Are they waiting to hear if there is a clamour from fans for her to be retained? And if they knew who they wanted they would presumably already have signed them up. What's going on?
Simon Cowell hit gold dust last year in appointing Cheryl but his record on identifying star judges to his shows is very patchy. He appointed Brian Friedman as a judge to replace Louis Walsh but changed his mind when he started making comments on the judges' panel.
And Simon appointed someone called Kelly Brook as a fourth judge on Britain's Got Talent but she was axed after a week.
Then on 4th February the Daily Mail published a piece by Richard Simpson claiming that Victoria Beckham, the wife of footballer David Beckham, and a one-time singer with The Spice Girls was in "advanced talks" to join The X Factor panel.
Leigh Holmwood in Media Guardian then popped up reporting that a spokeswoman for The X Factor has categorically denied the story, saying there is "not a shred of truth" in it and that there have been no calls on the subject between the pair [Simon Cowell and Victoria Beckham].
The Mirror didn't believe The Sun or the Mail. On 7th February, it published an article by Lara Gould saying Dannii wouldn't be axed at all. Simon Cowell had just embarrassed himself hiring then firing Kelly Brook in the same week for Britain's Got Talent. It claimed the rejected candidates for the job that didn't now exist were Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Lily Allen and Charlotte Church.
Not wanting to let a sleeping dog lie in peace, The Sun was back again on 9th February, this time in an article that no Sun writer signed. This one claimed that Kelly Rowland will replace Dannii Minogue. So Victoria Beckham's advanced talks must have stalled - if they had ever got started in the first place. And who is Kelly Rowland? An American R&B singer-songwriter who had once been in Destiny's Child. The Sun told us that Simon wants an American to sit next to him. So that explains it all then.
The Sun was back with more on this non-story on 24th February, this time written by Jen Blackburn. This once said that if Simon fired Dannii then Cheryl Cole would quit as well. So Cheryl is the one who apparently put a stop to Simon's dastardly plan by refusing to sign her new contract until Dannii signed hers.
On 26th February, the Daily Mail reported that Dannii was set to sign a contract the following week.
It reported Simon Cowell saying: "She was great last year and I am adamant she should be there for the next series. All being well, pen will be put to paper this week."
So Dannii won't be fired after all. Somehow we knew that all along - and presumably so did The Sun and The X Factor PR department or else they would never have been all these stories in the first place.
The Sun also informed us that Louis Walsh is demanding a pay increase if he is to return this year. £1.3 million would do nicely.
Full marks to The X Factor PR department. Ask Simon for a raise.