Britney is supposedly close to signing up for The US X Factor

Britney Spears is allegedly in the final stages of nego­ti­at­ing the contract to put her feet under the US X Factor judging table.

Hollywood Life's "excellent source" claims that Simon has agreed to meet Britney's $20m demands in the middle between his initial offer of $10m with a rumoured $12m-15m deal. That arrange­ment will be subject to review based on ratings for FOX's second outing for The X Factor.

Spears is also hoping to bargain a one-year exit clause into her contract in case she doesn't really fancy carrying on after her first series.

This so-called source said: "Simon Cowell wants at least a two-year com­mit­ment and Britney wants an out clause if she doesn’t want to continue after one year of service."