FOX Exec: No Spinoff For ‘Glee,’ ‘The X Factor’ To Undergo Changes

Kurt Hummel and Rachel Berry won’t be the focus of a new show on FOX next season.

On Sunday, FOX’s President of Entertainment, Kevin Reilly, told reporters at the Television Critics Association Winter Session in Pasadena there will definitely not be a “Glee” spinoff.

“We are graduating the characters… and what’s come out of it is [co-Creator and Executive Producer] Ryan [Murphy] and the guys have come up with a really cool idea. There will not be a ‘Glee’ spinoff, but those characters will graduate,” Reilly told reporters. “It’s led to a very interesting idea that I think is gonna really give us something cool to dig into next season.”

While declining to clarify what will happen with so many of the main cast ready to leave the halls of McKinley High, Reilly said the upcoming episodes will create a unique path toward the 2012-2013 “Glee” season.

“I like where it’s gonna really set us up in that spring batch of episodes and where it’s gonna set us up for next season,” he added. “No spinoff characters graduating; cool show next year.”

Beyond talk of “Glee,” the FOX Entertainment President said “X Factor” will have some changes when it returns for Season 2, although nothing has yet been decided.

When asked about “X Factor” host Steve Jones, who British tabloids previously reported would not return at the helm next year, Reilly seemed to add fuel to the fire.

“The hosting gig, the only thing I will say, is, as we know, it is a much harder job than meets the eye,” he said. “I think everyone has come to realize the value of a Ryan Seacrest. If you dialed the clock back 11 years, I’m not sure everybody in this room would have given him all the credit at that time. Those are very hard jobs to do. So whether Steve’s the guy or not, it comes under the heading of ‘Growth’ in general. There will be some tweaks to the show, but I’ll tell you, I’m very happy to have it and it’s gonna be part of us for a long time.”

As for Seacrest, who is at the end of his contract with “American Idol,” Reilly said he doesn’t want to see the show end up with Seacrest out.

“It’s very hard to imagine the show without Ryan,” the FOX exec said. “We certainly want to keep him. There’s no creative discussion there whatsoever. It’s a deal issue… It’s a deal component and it’s a tough negotiation and one that I think will come to conclusion pretty quickly.”