It’s a hard-knock life for Simon Cowell, you know. The poor love has barely paused for breath this past year, what with American Idol, the X-Factor, and now Celebrity X-Factor to deal with, and what thanks does he get for it? None. (Well, none other than a few million squid in the bank, obviously).

Well, now Simon is fighting back. He’s currently on strike, refusing to complete scheduled publicity work for American Idol, and even threatening to pull out of Celebrity X-Factor if ITV don’t pull their socks up and come up with the readies.

"Simon is fuming. It’s a big fall-out and a huge worry for ITV," reports that most trustworthy of sources, The Sunday Mirror . "It’s all down to money. Simon doesn’t think the channel values him enough."

Awww! Say it with me, folks – awwww! [Amber McNaught]