Paula Abdul Confirms Departure From ‘The X Factor’; Simon Cowell Issues Statement Thanking Team

Paula Abdul has confirmed the rumors – the reality TV judge is leaving “The X Factor.”

“Yes, it’s true; I won’t be returning to ‘The X Factor’ next season,” Paula said in a statement to Access Hollywood on Tuesday.

On Monday evening, after news broke – and was confirmed — that both host Steve Jones and judge Nicole Scherzinger had parted ways with the show, a report surfaced on Deadline that Paula had been cut from the show, and she seemed to hint at that sentiment in her statement on Tuesday.

“I’ve learned through my longevity in this industry that business decisions often times override personal considerations,” her statement continued. “Simon and I, along with Fox and Fremantle, have been communicating about this for a while now, and I have absolute understanding of the situation.

“Simon is, and will remain a dear friend of mine and I’ve treasured my experience working this past season with my extended family at FOX and Fremantle. I want nothing more than for ‘The X Factor’ to exceed ALL of their wildest dreams. This truly has been a blessing and I am most grateful,” her statement concluded.

Moments after Paula released her statement, “X Factor” boss, Simon too, released one of his own, with his well-wishes for the departing parties.

“I want to say a massive thank you to Paula, Nicole and Steve for being part of ‘The X Factor’ last year. We had a lot of fun making the show together and importantly, we found some real talent and stars. You do develop friendships with the people you work with and Paula, in particular, is a very close friend and I expect to be working with her on another project in the near future,” Simon’s statement to Access Hollywood read. “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.”

While a success for FOX, “The X Factor,” fell shy of hitting the 20 million ratings Simon Cowell had originally boasted he would achieve with the show. Instead, viewers for the program averaged around 12.6 million a week, per Variety.

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