Simon Cowell attends “America’s Got Talent” Season 14 Live Show Red Carpet at Dolby Theatre on September 17, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Israel, here comes the judge. Music mogul Simon Cowell will be a judge on the fourth season of “The X Factor Israel,” part of the talent competition franchise he created in the U.K. and launched in the U.S in 2011. Now in production, it marks Cowell’s first time judging the show outside either country. Supermodel Bar Refaeli hosted the previous season, which aired between October 2017 and January 2018.
“Over the years ‘The X Factor’ format discovered amazing talents from all over the world. I can’t wait to see what Israel have to offer,” Cowell told Deadline. Now recovered from back surgery following an electric bike accident, he had to miss most of “America’s Got Talent” this year. Besides developing new seasons of “Britain’s Got Talent” and “The X Factor” for the U.K., he’s working on a new competition series called “50 States to Stardom” for CBS, in partnership with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.
During his recovery and COVID quarantine, “I have had more time than I’ve ever had before so we have, for instance, three new formats which we didn’t have 12 months ago because I’ve had the time to work on them, develop them properly and the last time I did that or had the time to do it, honestly was around 2005 – which was about the time I came up with ‘Got Talent,’” he said. “I’m very excited.”
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