'X Factor' to introduce new fifth judge?

X Factor producers are reportedly planning to introduce a fifth member onto the judging panel.

The move comes after Simon Cowell invited 20 fans to a brainstorming session in London to discuss how the show could be improved, reports The Sun.

The idea to incorporate a fifth judge is said to have been endorsed by the fans at the secret meeting, which was held at the headquarters of businessman Sir Philip Green.

A source said: "The idea is 90% a done deal. Simon is still figuring out exactly how it will work."

The proposal is apparently designed to make contestant eliminations more clear-cut in the wake of Treyc Cohen's controversial exit from the ITV singing contest last weekend.

"On one level it could mean that if one of the judges opted out of voting it could still go to deadlock if the others were split two-two," the source added. "But the danger is if they all had voting rights and chose to vote it would never go to deadlock."

According to the insider, one possible idea is that the artist who is due to perform on the Sunday night show could act as a guest judge on the Saturday night.

"Simon has always thought a guest judge on live shows would bring some extra drama to proceedings," they added. "And he hopes they will shoot from the hip and put a rocket under the rest of the judges, who often bite their tongues."

The X Factor judging panel is currently made up of Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh and Cowell. It is not yet clear when the rumoured change might come into effect.