Report: Britney Spears won't be back on 'X Factor' Singer Britney Spears attends the annual Clive Davis pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills, California on February 11, 2012. LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Pop star Britney Spears likely won't return next season as a judge of "The X Factor" talent competition series, UsMagazine.com reported. Spears joined the panel for the show's second season, which wrapped Dec. 20. She served alongside fellow judges Demi Lovato, L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell. "They paid all that for her to say 'amazing' and offer half-claps," an insider told UsMagazine.com of Spears' $15 million salary and how she didn't earn it this season. "He wanted crazy Britney but he got boring Britney," another source said of Cowell, the show's co-creator.