THE Gossip bets singer Sarah Whatmore must wish she had taken up Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell's offer of marriage.
For it has emerged TV's Mr Nasty earned a whopping £33.5 million over the past year thanks to the global success of Pop Idol.
A new Sunday Times rich list puts him just behind Sir Paul McCartney (who earned £40 million), showing the acid-tongued judge is the real winner of the ITV1 reality show.
In contrast, his protege Gareth Gates took home just £2 million. Sarah Whatmore will have taken home far less since.
Although she has had some Top 10 hits, her career has yet to properly take off.
The Worsley singer was tipped to become the UK equivalent of Kylie or J-Lo but has not made a major impact on the charts.
Cowell infamously asked her for her hand in marriage after she wowed him on the first series of Pop Idol.
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