A new report has surfaced claiming former American Idol judge Paula Abdul has issued a desperate plea for help to sometimes foe Simon Cowell after losing her job in a ill-fated cat and mouse game of numbers crunching with show producers.

“Paula really screwed up this time,” an Idol staffer tells Globe. “Her ego exploded and it cost her the best job she ever had. She’s lost without Idol.”

Paula had been making about $5 million a year and wanted to more than double that figure.

“The studio made an initial lukewarm offer and Paula’s people passed. Then FOX came back and offered to pony up a respectable 30 percent raise and that still wasn’t enough. Paula could have easily taken the $10 million offer and walked away looking like a champ, but her ego is like a runaway train,” the Idol insider adds.

After taking to her Twitter to announce her departure from the show, Paula reportedly panicked and made a frantic call to Simon, hoping to enlist his help in getting her job back.

“She cried to Simon: ‘I didn’t know what I was doing. Please help me save my job!”

Simon has reportedly agreed to work behind the scenes to try to bring Abdul back to Idol.

“The show can go on without her, but the question is, can Paula go on without Idol?”