Simon Cowell 'Disappointed' After 'The X Factor USA' Launch Pulls In Lowest Ratings Yet

'Disappointed'

While all may now be rosy in Simon Cowell's personal life with a new girlfriend and a baby on the way, it seems things aren't going quite so well in his professional life.

The music mogul has been left red faced after 'The X Factor USA' pulled in its lowest launch ratings to date, down a huge 17% on 2012's debut.

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Simon Cowell

Just 6.2m people tuned in to the first episode of the third season on Wednesday night, which saw the debut of new judges Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio.

This figure compares to 8.5m who watched the equivalent episode last year, and the 12.5m who caught the series one launch in 2011.

It was even beaten by the launch episode for the tenth series of the UK 'X Factor', which, despite the smaller population, averaged 9.2m viewers.

According to The Mirror journalist Mark Jefferies, sources close to Simon say the team are 'disappointed but not downhearted' about the figures.

Simon famously promised that the show would get more than 20m viewers when it launched in 2011, but had to bactrack when it pulled in more modest figures.

The latest set of ratings have prompted rumours that this series could be the last, which we're secretly praying for as then Simon would be free to return to the UK show.

Fingers crossed!