Louis Walsh could quit The X Factor again after this year’s series

Louis Walsh has hinted that he could leave The X Factor again after the upcoming 2018 series.

Three years ago, Louis quit Simon Cowell’s music talent contest so he could “go back to being a manager”.

However, his replacement Nick Grimshaw only lasted one series, and Louis returned to the judging panel in 2016.

Now, as his current contract with the ITV show nears its end, Louis has again cast doubt on his future with the show, revealing that he still has the itch to launch new acts.

“I got a three-year contract and this is my third year,” he told Irish newspaper The Herald.

“It’s fun, but I do want to get back into music next year. I want to find one or two new acts to manage, I love doing that.

“I suppose [I’ll] just wait and see what happens this year.”

Recently it was rumoured that Louis’s time on The X Factor would come to an end sooner than expected.

Reports had claimed he and Sharon Osbourne would be released from their contracts early. However, ITV vetoed the plans, as they would still have had to be paid.

Louis – The X Factor’s longest-serving judge – insists he has no idea whether Sharon or their fellow star Nicole Scherzinger will return this year.

“I don’t know is the honest answer, I honestly don’t. I love them, I really do.”

However, there is one show that Louis definitely doesn’t want to give up – Ireland’s Got Talent.

TV3 launched an Irish version of the variety franchise launched this year with Louis on its panel, and he’s keen to do more.

“I definitely want to do Ireland’s Got Talent next year,” he said. “That was the easiest job and the most fun job I have ever done in Ireland.

“It was great fun and only nine days in total.”

Rita Ora, Mel B and Perrie Edwards have all been tipped to join The X Factor, which begins filming its fifteenth series this summer.