[Arneldo]

Neil Fox has said he is hoping to take part in another series of Pop Idol - and revealed how close producers came to making a celebrity version of the show.

The presenter - who was a judge on the original reality talent show - told Digital Spy he would be delighted to sign up again in the wake of rumours that creator Simon Fuller is planning a comeback for the show.

"I'd definitely do Pop Idol again," he declared. "I'd love to think that we could get together the four original judges, else it wouldn't be quite the same."

Fox, better known as Dr Fox, or even Foxy, also spoke for the first time about plans for a celebrity version of the series that were scrapped at the last minute.

"Last summer, we were all contracted to do Celebrity Pop Idol," he explained. "We'd all been contacted, got the dates lined up - and it turned into Celebrity X Factor." Fox put the u-turn down to contractual complications involving Cowell.

Fox praised the talent show and its success at producing stars such as Will Young. "There was something very pure about Pop Idol," he added. "I think there was a simplicity there - programmes like X Factor have become very successful, but there are a lot of gimmicks in these other shows."

DS