It’s been cooking for over eight months, but we can finally put a fork in it.

Britney Spears is officially the new judge on the X Factor. The news broke yesterday (May 9) on E! Online. The deal was signed a few weeks ago, but they spent the last few days looking over every detail behind the contract.

Britney’s deal will earn her a record $15 million dollars for one season’s worth of judging on season two. She will earn more money than Jennifer Lopez on American Idol and Christina Aguilera on The Voice.

“She’s ready for this,” an insider told E!. “She can’t wait to sit down next to Simon at the judges’ table and give this everything she’s got. She is excited about showing the world that she can do this, and do this well. This is the perfect next stage in her career. Both Britney and Simon [Cowell] are very excited to work together.”

The last time Britney had her own TV show was with Kevin Federline. The series, called Chaotic, showcased her relationship and slight breakdown from pop princess to pop disaster.

In constant competition with American Idol and The Voice for ratings, Simon Cowell admitted in December that he was too cocky about his thoughts on X Factor matching the ratings of American Idol. The show premiered to 12.1 million viewers while 26 million viewers watched the Season 10 premiere of American Idol. With Britney as a new judge her shock factor and appeal may be just what X Factor needs to step up its game.

- Bryan Carstensen, CBS Local/92.3 NOW