Simon Cowell has expressed interest in having Britney Spears return to reality television, making a call-out for the pop star’s on-screen return during a recent interview.
Simon Cowell and Britney Spears previously appeared together as judges on the second season of The X-Factor US in 2015. Recalling their time together in an interview with E!, Cowell praised the singer as “super smart” before pleading for her return to the panel of the musical competition. “If you’re watching Britney, and we make a show, please come back and do it with me. It would be amazing,” Cowell said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Cowell made reference to Spears’ 13-year conservatorship, which officially came to an end in November of last year. Cowell rejected the long-running notion that Spears is unable to cope on her own, recalling her professionalism on the set of The X-Factor. “There’s a side of Britney a lot of people don’t know,” Cowell said.
“I mean, I was on the phone to her two or three hours every time [while we were on The X Factor]. She was super smart, lovely ideas about how to launch someone else’s career, which is critical if you’re going to be a judge on one of these shows. So I had a fantastic relationship with her.” Cowell’s interest in working alongside Spears comes amid a hectic few years for the singer, particularly since the end of her conservatorship.
Last week, the pop star took aim at the litany of documentaries that have been made about her life and legal battles, deeming films like Framing Britney “nothing but trash.” Earlier this year, her marriage to Sam Asghari was gate-crashed by her ex-husband, who was later arrested for violating his restraining order. Elsewhere, she was the recipient of a decades-late apology from Justin Timberlake, and landed a $15 million-dollar book deal.
In August of this year, Spears featured on a remix of Elton John’s Hold Me Closer, marking her first music release in many years at the time of its release. A month prior, the singer was reported to be working on a new album, having sent out emails to possible collaborators.
