Last week sure was a crazy one over at the X Factor. With Paula Abdul,Nicole Scherzinger AND Steve Jones all given the axe, people were leftwondering what exactly happened behind-the-scenes that lead to the firings.Judge and mastermind behind the singing competition Simon Cowell sat down withExtra to address many unanswered questions, like who will replace the formerjudges.

Check out the interview below!

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With the show not living up to its expectations, Simon was left with thetough decision to let go of Abdul, Scherzinger and Jones and start fromscratch. One person he would have liked to keep around was former American Idol judgePaula. “I would’ve liked to have kept her. She was very gracious and I saidthat to her. She understand it’s business; it’s never personal.”

Now that there are three open seats at the judging table, which big namesdoes Cowell want to bring on? He admitted that Mariah Carey would but fantastic,but being a new mommy would make it tough. Katy Perry would be “fun” and Madonnawould be “great” but “expensive.”

If you could ANY star to be the new judge of X Factor, who would it be? Letus know! 

Video Courtesy of Extra