Rihanna forced to turn down US X Factor gig due to tour schedule

The R&B star confirmed that the show’s boss Simon Cowell had offered her the gig as a judge, but she was forced to turn it down because she will be on tour for the rest of the year.

The Only Girl (In The World) singer told a US radio show: “I just heard about it actually and, yes, it’s something I would have loved to do, but our schedule doesn’t allow it.

“We’re going to be on tour for the rest of the year.”

She added: “It is a demanding schedule to be in that show and you have to be around for a long time, months at a time – which would’ve been impossible for me.”

The Barbadian songstress has also released a remix of her smash single S&M featuring Britney Spears.

Talking about her collaboration with the pop princess, she said: “It happened in less than a week. I asked my fans on Twitter who they would most want me to collaborate with. Britney was one of the most popular names that came back.

“So it was like, ‘OK, perfect’. And she was like, ‘I’d love to do it’. She was great, she was very professional and she worked really hard on it.”

She added: “We have similar sounds and it was very unexpected to see two artists with two similar genres like that collaborate and get together.”