The X Factor is set to return to ITV eight years after it ended, but insiders say the comeback is being hampered by disputes over money, credit and casting. Simon Cowell, who created the format and will retain final say over the show, is said to be locked in unresolved fee negotiations with ITV and production company Talkback, with sources suggesting his camp has been briefing against rival show The Voice to strengthen his negotiating position. The wrangling matters because ITV, facing financial pressures of its own, must find a way to fund a revival Cowell insists must not look cheap, even as advertising revenues that once bankrolled the original series have dried up.

Sources describe "very irked" feelings within the X Factor camp over former judge Cheryl Tweedy signing up as a mentor on The Voice instead, denying the comeback a popular figure ahead of filming, which starts this month. Historic figures underline the scale of the change: judges once earned up to £1.5 million each, with Robbie Williams and Ayda Field reportedly paid up to £10 million, and individual live episodes cost around £1 million to make, compared with The X Factor's 2010 peak audience of 19.4 million versus The Voice's recent 2.5 million. Insiders expect the new series' budget to be roughly half of previous levels, or less, as ITV and Talkback continue to argue over costs before filming gets underway.