Rumors of various celebrities joining The X Factor are in full swing, and Simon Cowell probably loves all this free publicity.

Today he didn’t deny recent rumors of Janet Jackson and Britney Spears being in talks to join him and L.A. Reid as judges.

Variety reports the following that occurred during a conference call today:

In looking to replace recently fired judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger, Cowell wouldn’t deny that Britney Spears and Janet Jackson have been put in the mix, but so have many others.

“We will meet with a number of people over the next few weeks. … There is loads of speculation, There are a lot more people who have entered the fray this year. We wanted to see who would contact us before we contact people. That’s a good place to be.”

When asked about whether Whitney Houston might have been a candidate to be a judge, current judge L.A. Reid said: “We would have considered it but it never quite came to that. We never actually had meetings about it.”

As for who will replace Steve Jones as host, Cowell said the job has become too big for one person and that a man and woman will share the emcee responsibilities for the new season.

“What we learned is that because you have so much information to deliver, it’s almost impossible for one person. It’s more fun way to do it with two people. It’s a different chemistry. I’ve always wanted a boy and a girl and that will definitely happen.”

We had told you earlier this week that Jackson was one of the singers in talks to join. Would you like to see either of these two divas join the show?