Simon Cowell is on the brink of a major career shift:. Will he revive X Factor or do something entirely new? (Image: The Photo Access/Alamy)

Simon Cowell is never too far away from the headlines, and he has been back in them in recent weeks.

There has been talk for months now that he is gearing up to return with a new show, which previously had the working title The Midas Touch.

Cowell is said to have signed a big deal with Netflix for the programme, which is expected to search for the new One Direction, who were discovered on The X Factor—a talent show Cowell created—in 2010.

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One recent report in the Mail on Sunday newspaper suggested Cowell had given up hope of searching for a new chart-topping band capable of achieving global success, and it was claimed the focus of the programme was changing to be "much more" about him.

However, this has since been rubbished by the star's team, and they clarified The Midas Touch was no longer the name of the show.

A spokesperson for Simon told The Sun newspaper: "This project is primarily a search for a boyband, which is being documented."

Whether the programme ends up being a success or a failure will no doubt play a huge part in what move the music mogul makes next. 

X Factor Return?

If things go well with Cowell's new show, then a second series is likely to be on the cards, but it could also be the spark he needs to bring The X Factor back.

X Factor's height was also the reality TV heyday. When controversial moments happened on the show, it was huge news, and the stories were regularly splashed over the front pages of the red-top newspapers.

While the rise of reality TV programmes has continued, there are so many now that it has almost diluted the genre.

It is extremely rare to see multiple Love Island or Britain's Got Talent stories appear on the front page of a paper during a series nowadays, especially based on something that has happened in an episode.

The recent Strictly Come Dancing scandal, which has seen pro dancers Graziano Di Prima and Giovanni Pernice, who have denied "any accusations of abusive or threatening behaviour", both depart the series following allegations about their behaviour in training, is somewhat of an exception, but that is based on behind-the-scenes complaints.

However, could Simon's new programme almost be testing the waters to see if there is a new appetite for an X Factor return?

It is just 11/8 that Cowell brings the show back next, and there are certainly die-hards who would love to see it return.

However, there will always be many who think it is better consigned to the archives, where we can relive the memories of past success stories—Little Mix, JLS, Leona Lewis, Olly Murs, Alexandra Burke, and, of course, One Direction.

Britain's Lack of Talent?

While he no longer has The X Factor, Cowell is still a judge on America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent, but gone are the days when the UK show would pull in an average viewership of 13 million per season, as it did in 2009's third series.

That year saw dance troupe Diversity beat off competition from arguably the show's greatest-ever find in singer Susan Boyle.

Simon is searching for the next boy band sensation to propel to fame. (Image: PA Images / Alamy)

More than 17 million tuned into the final, in which Diversity upset the odds to overcome red-hot 10/11 favourite Boyle.

Those ratings seem staggering now, but this was a time when multiple streaming services were simply not a thing.

BGT is set to return next year for an 18th series with a slightly changed format, and it wouldn't be a huge surprise if Cowell decided to rest the show if it makes it to a landmark season 20, as he did with The X Factor after series 15.

Cowell is 3/1 to end BGT next, while it's 8/1 he quits talent shows altogether.

One Direction at the very beginning of their career. (Image: PA Images / Alamy)

Should this shock move happen, it would give him some free time, and he could become a Dragon on Dragons' Den (5/1).

Cowell is pals with businessman Peter Jones, who has been a Dragon for all 21 series, and the pair previously co-produced a US-style show called American Inventor, but it only aired for two seasons.

Strictly Snub 

For now, Cowell appears to be concentrating on his upcoming new show, but he has a huge task ahead of him in trying to find the new One Direction.

1D, who were made up of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne until Zayn departed the band in 2015, had four UK number ones with tunes What Makes You Beautiful, Little Things, Drag Me Down, and Comic Relief charity single One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks).

But it's 6/1 that Cowell's new discovery can better that by scoring five UK number ones or more, and the currently-undiscovered group are 6/4 to have one UK or US chart-topping single.

If the show goes well for Cowell, then it will be yet another masterstroke in the music mogul's incredible career. But if it goes badly, then might he even retire from show business altogether?

It may seem a tad extreme, but at 20/1 he is more likely to retire than appear on the likes of reality TV shows like I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! (25/1), Celebrity Big Brother (50/1)—which his fellow former X Factor judges Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh appeared on earlier this year—or his former nemesis Strictly (66/1).

Cowell used to be engaged in a weekly TV ratings war with Strictly during The X Factor', and he previously admitted the battle for viewers left him "depressed" because he became "obsessed with beating the competition."

In 2022, he told The Sun newspaper: "I took it to a ridiculous level and I would get really down about that stuff, to the point [where] I was depressed."

The chances of Cowell swapping his current judging roles for a rumba appear to be slim to none, but die-hard X Factor fans live in hope that the programme will return one day.