In more news from the X Factor camp, The Sun reckons that Simon Cowell has persuaded Madonna and Robbie Williams to give “masterclasses” to this year’s hopefuls and the stars will – apparently – be singing on the show too.

According to the paper, it was choreographer Brian Friedman who let those cats out of Simon’s bag when he told friends how excited he was that he’d be working with the stars.

It’s further rumoured that Shakira, Rihanna and Whitney Houston will also be making appearances this year.

It seems that Simon was keen to top last year’s all star line up of guests and a source close to X Factor told the paper that Brian, “is proud to be part of it and admires Simon’s ability to attract A-listers.”