X-Factor: Simon Cowell pays £100 every time he lights up at X Factor Studios because of smoking rules

Lighting up: Simon Cowell loves to smoke so much that he's prepared to pay for it WeirPhotos / Splash News

The X Factor judge is such a fan of having a ciggie that he's prepared to take the financial hit every time he sneaks a quick puff

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Simon Cowell has left bosses at the X Factor studios fuming – after he refused to stop smoking backstage.

Instead, the multi-millionaire music mogul opts to pay a £100 fine for EACH ciggie instead.

Sparking up inside ­Fountain Studios in Wembley, North West London, where the show is filmed, is banned as it is it classed as a place of work.

But a show insider revealed: “Simon makes no secret of the fact that he enjoys a cigarette to help him relax and ­obviously being on the judging panel while also running the show is very stressful.

“Rather than wait until after the show and go outside like everybody else, Simon uses the advert breaks – but because they're so short he never quite makes it outside.

WeirPhotos / Splash NewsHabit forming: Simon reportedly spots £100 for each cig he smokes inside the workplace

"People say smoking is a very expensive habit – but Simon has taken that to new heights. Over the course of a series we’re talking about literally ­thousands of pounds.”

Cowell, 56, admitted last month he’s thinking about quitting.

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The one-time 40-a-day smoker told how the birth of son Eric, now 21 months, had prompted him to cut back.

But he admitted: “This is the one thing I would find very difficult to give up because I do love a cigarette.”