Louis Walsh to quit X Factor?

Louis Walsh is to stand down as an X Factor judge next year, according to a report in The Sun.

The paper says that the 55-year-old, who has been on the judging panel since the series began in 2004, wants to spend more time on managing his acts, which include chart-toppers Westlife and former X Factor winner Shayne Ward.

"I will do one more series," Louis told the paper. "I have really enjoyed doing it but I'm not a TV star, I'm a band manager."

"X Factor takes over your life. By the end of the final show I am exhausted, and then I have to work with my acts."

He also revealed that he was close to fellow judges Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne, but didn't feel the need to maintain a constant presence on TV.

"I'm not like Simon, I don't have to be on TV or be a judge the whole time," he said.

Walsh was dismissed as a judge prior to the start of the current series of the show, but was brought back midway through the series after Simon and Sharon failed to gel with his replacement, choreographer Brian Friedman.