Simon Cowell has hinted that he’s prepared to axe The X-Factor if ratings for the show don’t improve.  

The music mogul told the Daily Mail’s Live magazine that he is hoping the series responsible for launching the careers of Leona Lewis and One Direction will continue to remain a lynchpin of the ITV schedules for years to come:

“Most things in music, fashion or TV tend to be across a ten-year period. The great test of someone’s success is if you can transcend a decade.

“I genuinely believe that we can do it again. But only if we are prepared to be a little bit brave.”

However, following the four million drop in viewing figures for last year’s final, the 52-year-old also admitted that he would take the show off air if audiences continued to fall:

"I’d rather fall off the cliff on numbers than deteriorate slowly. That is like death from a thousand cuts. Now maybe that might mean with The X Factor we’d say in a year’s time: “Right, that’s the end of it. Let’s start something new.” We have got something in development which could replace it if we get to that point."