X Factor boss Simon Cowell won’t be getting a pay rise for the 2010 series of the show according to reports.

Simon’s three year deal with ITV ran out in December, it was worth £20 million. Insiders say he is on the brink of signing a follow up contract but won’t be asking for more pay to stay.

A source told The Daily Mail:

‘Simon is not getting a pay rise.

‘He is more concerned about the budget being raised for the X Factor to make sure it returns bigger and better.’

The pay freeze hardly matters to Cowell, after he managed to buy back the rights to both X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent from Sony BMG last year. BGT enjoyed record ratings for its launch show on Saturday night and will no doubt to help Simon cross that line from multi-millionaire to billionaire.

The source also denied reports suggesting that Simon had awarded Cheryl Cole a huge £700,000 pay rise. They said:

The source close to Cowell said: ‘Cowell has not given Cheryl such a big pay increase.

‘He adores Cheryl, but she realises that this year, Simon wants the show to be great and needs more money to be spent on production for the viewers at home.’