There have been rumours for the last few years that Louis Walsh was going to get the boot from The X Factor, but each time he's survived like a cat landing on its feet.

However it now looks like the veteran judge, who has been the only constant member of the panel for the show's 11 years, will finally be collecting his P45.

The Sun On Sunday reports that show boss Simon Cowell is determined to shake the show up further this year, and that he's finally bitten the bullet and decided to axe his old pal.

"Viewers had become sick of Louis's constant use of tired clichés and the same old jokes," a source told the tabloid.

"He'd been doing it for 11 years and it seemed like he was just going through the motions."

But the twinkly pop manager won't be putting up his feet just yet, because he's launching a new boy band and has reportedly been offered the head judge role on an Irish version of Britain's Got Talent (so, Ireland's Got Talent perhaps?).

"They are close friends so Simon wanted to do this in the right way," the mole continued.

"He didn't want to leave the discussion to executive producer Richard Holloway because that backfired so badly when he sacked Cheryl Fernandez-Versini from X Factor USA in 2011.

"So Simon spoke to Louis and told him that it's 95 per cent certain that he'll be 'stood down' this year."

The paper also claims that Mel B will be cut loose from the show, despite a successful stint as a judge last year.

Speculation has been mounting that Louis Tomlinson may step into the breach, but the show conflicts with One Direction's touring schedule - so we won't be rushing down the betting shop to put all our savings on that.

Instead, the paper's source said SiCo would bide his time.

"Simon likes looking at his options and choosing at the last minute. That's how he always works."