Simon Staying on Idol for Three More Seasons

Paula Abdul may be officially out, but we’ll have at least three more seasons of Simon Cowell. The infamous judge will remain on American Idol for the time being, thanks to a pretty hefty contract.

After this past season, Cowell had hinted about leaving the show because his contract was up. That prompted Fox to begin negotiations with him to stay for at least three more.

Idol’s parent company CKX was in charge of the deal. Chairman and CEO Robert Sillerman told The Hollywood Reporter, "We've heard from Fox, who has asked us for approval for Simon Cowell to appear for three more years on Idol. They, in their negotiations with Cowell, have asked us to pre-approve him not only for American Idol ‘09, which has begun taping, but they have also asked us for approval for '10 and '11, indicating to us that they're finishing their negotiation with Cowell. We did grant approval for that quite obviously."

Under the new deal, Simon would make $45 million a year, up from the $36 million he was previously making. Is Simon really worth that much cash??