You won’t believe how much DOLLAH Simon Cowell is paying to have Louis Walsh back on The X Factor

As this year's X Factor line up is becoming pretty much non-existent, given that Cheryl, Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora have all made the decision to quit, it's no wonder that Simon Cowell is PANICKING.

Despite reports that Simon is prepared to do whatever it takes to get Sharon Osborne, Nicole Scherzinger, Spice gal Mel B AND One Direction's Louis Tomlinson on the panel, there is one face that he has already lined up FOR REAL.

And we bet you won't be surprised who it is:

You MIGHT be surprised by the amount of $$$$ that Simon is paying to have his old pal back though.

Louis is returning to the ITV show as a judge for "just shy of a million" after signing his shiny new contract, according to The Mirror.

GASP.

It was a dark, dark 2015 for us all when Louis revealed he was LEAVING his role as an X Factor judge after 11 long years. Simon even took to Twitter to wish him an ominous farewell:

But Louis is BACK and is rinsing Simon for every penny that he thinks he's worth.

A source explained to The Mirror:

"The ink is drying on Louis' contract as he put pen to paper this week.

"He's really excited about returning, but one of his stipulations was that the X Factor returned to Ireland to scout talent...

"Simon knows he had to make amends for dropping him last series, which he has previously admitted was a mistake. So it was the least he could do to make Louis happy this season."

We think a million quid sure makes up for it, doncha think?