“I don’t mind being cast as the pantomime baddie – but I am very fair in business,” Cowell said. “It is not slave labour. I won’t go into the precise figures because that is confidential but these people will earn about £50,000 (US $71,151) each on the X Factor tour.

“For any kid who wants to get into the music business and hasn’t got a recording contract – it’s a good deal. To put them in front of 16 million viewers over a period of time and then pay them £50,000 for three months work? That is not a bad deal.”

Cowell recently came under fire after a U.K. tabloid reported that finalists on his British talent show “X Factor” were signed up to a country-wide tour after the show wrapped last year but were being paid as little as £250 per gig.

The man behind such TV talent shows as “Pop Idol,” “American Idol,” “The X Factor” and “Britain’s Got Talent” insists the figures are wrong.

He says most artists who reach the final stages of the competition will be handed a hefty pay packet at the end of their run.