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Sneerio! Wicked Simon to quit

Dreadful!

Simon Cowell, the real “American Idol,” is leaving the show he built into a ratings monster.

“Idol’s” upcoming ninth season will be the last for the acid-tongued Cowell, who announced yesterday he’s departing to bring his British show “The X Factor” to America.

“I said years ago that I was going to leave at the end of this contract period,” Cowell told reporters in Pasadena, Calif. “Everyone thought I was negotiating. I was not.”

Fox has agreed to broadcast “The X Factor” in a deal that was signed early yesterday morning.

“There has been a lot of speculation [about “The X Factor”] partly because we didn’t have an agreement,” Cowell said.

“What we have agreed is that ‘X Factor’ will launch [on Fox] in America in 2011, with me judging the show and executive-producing the show. Because of that, this will be my last season on ‘American Idol’ this year.”

And Cowell may be bringing another piece of “Idol” magic with him. He said he’s eager to bring former judge — and frequent Cowell foil — Paula Abdul to “X Factor.” Abdul left the show during an off-season salary spat with producers.

“I have gone on record with this before: I adore Paula,” Cowell said. “Whatever happens, I will be working with her in some way.”

Cowell, who is now TV’s best-paid performer, is leaving behind a huge salary from “Idol” — a reported $45 million a year. But he’ll get the chance to make millions more.

The brutally honest Brit said that he “was offered a lot of money to stay” on “Idol” — reports placed the figure at as much as $144 million for a single season last summer.

But Cowell said he turned down the small fortune because he “wanted to do something different. I wanted a new challenge.”

Fox plans to air both talent shows — “X Factor” in the fall of 2011 and “Idol” in the winter.

Cowell and network executives discussed the possibility of him judging both, but he said that ultimately, he couldn’t handle that.

“When we looked at the practicality of that, it’s impossible,” said the 50-year-old Cowell. “I’ve made a commitment to stay on [“The X Factor”] in the UK, and I didn’t think it was right to do two shows in America.”

Cowell also indicated that he’d need to devote all of his time to launching “The X Factor” stateside.

“It’s a big, big production,” Cowell said of the series that launched pop singer Leona Lewis. “We gave ourselves time to set it up. It gives us time to work out who the judging panel will be.”

Fox has another three years to go in its contract with “American Idol,” and yesterday insisted it wants to keep the show — the No. 1-rated TV series of the decade — on the air.

“We expect that ‘Idol’ will be on for many, many, many more years,” said Fox Chairman Peter Rice.

However, when “Idol” returns after this season — which begins tonight — it will be a very different-looking show without Simon or Paula.

Fox execs called Simon “irreplaceable,” but said they were going to replace him anyway.

As for his last season on the show, Cowell pledged to make the ninth edition of “Idol” the best yet.

“I want to leave ‘Idol’ this year bigger and better than it was before,” he said.

“You want to leave on a high. I’m very proud of what the show has achieved.”

Additional reporting by Sean Daly in Pasadena, Calif.

maxine.shen@nypost.com