Simon Cowell wants Cheryl Cole back on US X Factor

11 April 2012
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Cheryl Cole will be a judge on American X Factor if Simon Cowell "has his way", the music mogul's spokesman said.

The 27-year-old's role on the US version of the talent show was thrown into doubt this week after reports she had been axed.

But according to the publicist Max Clifford, Cowell has wanted her on the panel "from the start".

He said he had spoken to Cowell, who told him: "I want Cheryl Cole on the show."

Mr Clifford said the Syco chief is in discussions with the producers across the Atlantic, but he does not have the final say.

Speaking to Sky News, the PR guru said Cowell insisted: "I've made that clear from the start, I've made it clear to everybody at Fox and Fremantle, the people involved, that my choice would be to have Cheryl Cole on the show."

He said stories in the press reporting "Simon Cowell Sacks Cheryl" were "totally wrong and totally misleading".

"If he has his way, she will be on the show," he said.

"But, he's an important part of a very important team, so obviously there are other people with very strong views, as in Fox Television, as in Fremantle, and that's what's being discussed at the moment."

According to reports, Cole could take her place alongside the other judges this week, when the auditions start again in New Jersey on Wednesday.

Mr Clifford said Cowell believes the Geordie will be a "huge hit" in the US.

He added: "Whether Cheryl will be back or not, we will know hopefully, sooner rather than later."

Some commentators have suggested the uncertainty of the judging situation is deliberately engineered by Cowell to increase publicity for the show, but Mr Clifford rubbished those claims.

"It's certainly not Simon Cowell hype, as someone that has looked after Simon for 10 years," he said.

"I think he's had more headaches over this situation than probably anything in the previous 10 years."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in