It's no secret the Idol impresario wanted to bring his Leona Lewis-producing British hit The X-Factor to the States since he launched it. But we just never realized that he couldn't do both Fox shows at the same time. Come 2011, the only original judge left at the Idol table will be Randy Jackson. And that's a dawg-one shame.
Image Credit: Fox
Simon Cowell isn't the first star to walk away from a megahit. (Neither was Paula!) Look back at these seemingly unimaginable departures from ''Grey's,'' ''The View,'' ''ER,'' and more