Britney Spears is out of the The X Factor USA after just one season. Indications are that show boss Simon Cowell was about to fire Britney for being ‘boring’.

The 31-year-old singer judging style had been heavily criticised.

A source said: ‘Britney and her team knew it was unlikely she’d be asked back as a judge.

‘The producers have already been making other plans for next season over the holidays.

‘The reality is that toward the end of last season the main players knew they wanted to replace both Britney and LA Reid. LA Reid wasn’t at the top of his game in second season and he knew that.’

Feeling was that she was not connecting well with her contestants, despite being employed to mentor them.

‘Most people didn’t expect Britney to make it through the season as its a demanding role but she did her best,’ said a source.

Despite being one of the biggest pop stars in the world, Britney was a failure in television.

She flubbed lines and quite a number of times seemed disconnected from the the show’s narrative.

The December 20 second season finale was watched by 9.6 million viewers, down 18 percent from the first season finale.