Insiders suggest that So You Think You Can Dance judge Nigel Lythgoe, may be about to replace Simon Cowell on next year’s American Idol.

Nigel was on the original judging panel of the UK’s Pop Idol and up until 2008 was a producer on the American series. Simon has just announced that he will be leaving American Idol after this series and a source told The Daily Star: “Nigel is one of the producers on American Idol so it’s no great leap to put him front of house rather than behind the cameras.

“He’s done Pop Idol in the UK, so he knows what he’s talking about, and like Simon, he says what he thinks, which audiences love.”