This shouldn't come as a huge surprise, given recent reports, but Britney Spears has confirmed that she is, in fact, leaving The X Factor after serving as a judge and mentor on the Fox singing competition for the show's second season. In addition to confirming her exit, she expressed enthusiasm for returning to doing what she loves most, which is performing.
Just yesterday, it was reported that Britney was exiting The X Factor so that she could return to the studio to reportedly record another album, and maybe even do another tour. Spears doesn't get into specifics on her post-X-Factor, but she does hint that music is her focus as she leaves the Fox series behind. Here's her statement, which was posted at EW:
“I’ve made the very difficult decision not to return for another season. I had an incredible time doing the show and I love the other judges and I am so proud of my teens but it’s time for me to get back in the studio. Watching them all do their thing up on that stage every week made me miss performing so much! I can’t wait to get back out there and do what I love most.”
EW adds on that a Fox rep confirmed the news, which makes it about as official as it's going to get. Spears' confirmed exit opens the floor for a new round of "Who will replace her?" We played this game after the first season of The X Factor wrapped up and it was confirmed that judges/mentors Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul were not coming back. It'll be interesting to see if Simon Cowell or anyone else from the show talks about what their plans might be, whether it's to replace Spears with another pop star or go with someone with a different musical background.
