Paula Abdul confirms leaving as The X Factor USA judge, Simon Cowell maintains friendship

Paula Abdul confirmed that she will not be part of The X Factor USA Season 2, along with Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones, with Simon Cowell saying that their friendship still remains.

Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul
Image Credit: Getty Images

According to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, Paula Abdul released a statement confirming the earlier reports that she will not return to the show as one of the judges.

Yes, its true; I wont be returning to The X Factor next season, Abdul was quoted on the report, who is noted to be a longtime friend of Simon Cowell, the show creator, since the early American Idol days.

Ive learned through my longevity in this industry that business decisions often times override personal considerations. 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. Abdul added.

Simon is, and will remain a dear friend of mine and Ive treasured my experience working this past season with my extended family at Fox and Fremantle. The 49-year old 90s singer explained further.

As reported earlier, Steve Jones confirmed via his official Twitter account! that he will not be anymore the host of The X Factor USA Season 2, but did not elaborate the reasons of his departure.

At the same time, an unnamed Fox spokesman revealed that Nicole Scherzinger will not also be returning to the show as one of the judges, with the 33-year old former Pussycat Dolls lead singer notably to focus more with her music career.

Meanwhile, Simon Cowell also confirmed that the three personalities will not be The X Factor USA for the next season, which has no date yet; but said he still considers Abdul as one of his closest friends.

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. Cowell was quoted in a statement.

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. Cowell added.

Tags: Nicole Scherzinger, Paula Abdul, Paula Abdul X Factor, Simon Cowell, Steve Jones, The X Factor USA, The X Factor USA judges, X Factor USA Season 2

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