Simon Cowell to offer Celebrity X Factor winner a Syco record deal

The winner of The X Factor’s upcoming celebrity series will reportedly land a RECORD DEAL with Simon Cowell’s firm Syco.

Simon recently revealed plans to postpone the sixteenth regular series of the singing contest in favour of two spin-offs.

One will be a ‘champions’ edition featuring fan favourites from past years, while the other will feature celebrity contestants.

However, if music buffs assumed this meant X Factor would take a break from its annual assault on the festive charts, it seems they can think again.

According to The Sun, the new celeb run will offer a recording contract with Simon’s label Syco as its top prize – just like the regular version.

This means the victorious star will instantly release a winner’s single, giving them a shot at the Christmas no.1 spot.

“Simon knows that getting the right stars to enter is the key to its success,” a source commented.

“So to make that more appealing he’s decided to put a proper record deal with Syco on the table for the winner — with serious money behind it.

“It’s a proper competition. They want people who can really sing but who are big personalities too.”

Contestants will still earn pay cheques for their participation, with Simon reportedly earmarking a £3million budget to book big names.

Rumoured candidates include reality regular Gemma Collins, who previously shocked viewers with her surprisingly good singing voice on BBC One’s All Together Now.

The big-money record deal would represent a stunning U-turn from the media mogul – who previously ruled out further celebrity spin-offs.

The X Factor previously aired a ‘Battle of the Stars’ series in 2006, with no prize.

Instead, celebs including Lucy Benjamin, Gillian McKeith and Chris Moyles simply competed for fun (and hefty fees).

After the spin-off ended, Simon branded it “pointless” and claimed he would never bring it back.

“Ratings were good but what we’re supposed to be looking for is a new artist,” he said at the time.

The trend of TV personalities achieving unexpected chart success apparently inspired his change of heart.

Alexander Armstrong, Bradley Walsh and Nick Knowles are among familiar faces who have released albums in recent years.

While the rumour mill is in full swing, ITV still hasn’t officially confirmed any details for this year’s X Factor.