Nigel Lythgoe 'fired' as American Idol executive producer

Nigel Lythgoe has reportedly been fired from American Idol after 12 years as a producer on the US show.

The 63-year-old tweeted at the weekend to say he would no longer be working on the programme.

He said: "Just had 10 days in the Bahamas, rain everyday. I get back to the States and get fired. Sad! Monday we choose our top 20. I'll smile again."

"It's not a personal thing they just feel IDOL needs new leadership."

Lythgoe, who worked on shows like Blind Date and Gladiators in the 1990s, made his name as a judge on ITV talent show, Popstars, in 2000.

The following year he was employed by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment to work on Pop Idol, which featured the TV debut of Simon Cowell.

In 2002 he launched American Idol in the US, with Cowell one of the three main judges along with Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul.

He is also a judge on Sky1's So You Think You Can Dance.

Falling ratings

American Idol's ratings fell to their lowest point in 12 years in its latest series with 14.2 million watching the season finale, which was won by Candice Glover.

Three judges - Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey - have now left the show with only Keith Urban still in place.

In a statement, Fox and the companies behind American Idol thanked Nigel Lythgoe and fellow producer Ken Warwick, who is also leaving the show, for their work and said they looked forward to working with them on other projects.

Swedish producer Per Blankens will be taking over from Lythgoe.

He was most recently the executive producer of Idol, Sweden's version of the singing competition.

He will oversee the upcoming 13th season of American Idol, due to premiere in January 2014.

Trish Kinane, executive producer of the Fox show, said in a statement: "[Per] is extremely passionate about Idol and I'm very excited about his ideas and vision for keeping Idol creatively vibrant.

He brings the talent and energy needed to keep American Idol strong."

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