Tulisa tipped for X Factor pay rise

X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos is set to double her salary when she returns to the next series of the show, according to The Sun. The paper reports that the N-Dubz singer - who was mentor to the 2011 winners Little Mix - is poised to sign a new contract just days after Simon Cowell confirmed she would be returning to the show, and this time is set to pocket £500,000 for her role. And it is thought that Cowell is keen for the deal to be sorted soon to give the singer "one less thing to worry about," following her recent sex tape revelations. "Simon wants Tulisa back and she wants to come back, so it's all down to contracts now," a source told the paper. "He's conscious of the fact she's had a rubbish time recently so he figures getting a new deal sorted will be one less thing for her to worry about." The insider added that Tulisa was in line for a "decent bonus," adding, "It might seem a lot of money but it's a fraction of what Gary Barlow gets and is much lower than Cheryl Cole - who she effectively replaced." Louis Walsh and Gary Barlow are also returning for the next series, while Kelly Rowland is also expected to be back.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.