There has still been no official announcement since Cheryl Cole was apparently fired from the X Factor judging panel two weeks ago, and this weekend it looked like Cole could be heading back to the US after there were reports that she had been offered her old job back. This however doesn't seem to be the case now and this dramatic about turn from Fox executives could all have been a power play to get Cole to relinquish her $1.5 million fee.
So what exactly is going on behind the scenes of this not even aired show? Well what we do is that it was reported in the media but not confirmed from either Fox or Cole's camp that the singer had been let go from the judging panel of the X Factor and co-host Nicole Scherzinger would be taking over the role. The reasons for Cole's sacking ranged from her accent being an issue and that she had no chemistry with Paula Abdul. Cole then reportedly flew home to the UK where she hasn't been seen out in public since. At the same time as this was occurring the UK version of the show was about to announce the official line up of their X Factor judges, after the departure of Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and singer Dannii Minogue, so there was the possibility for Cole to resume her old role on this version of the show. This did not materialise and Cole is not part of the judging panel of the UK version after she reportedly refused to take any calls regarding this opportunity after being burnt by Fox and Fremantle executives and wanted to distance herself from the brand. This move by Cole makes sense, why would you take back your former job when you had been publicly humiliated by your new one, that are both part of the same franchise?
This is where things took a turn for the bizarre when UK tabloid The News of the World reported yesterday that Cole was scrambling to get her visa sorted so she could return to the US X Factor after Simon Cowell stepped in and got her job back. This is now being claimed to be a ruse to try and get a no show out of the singer at Wednesday's New Jersey auditions, which will make the star in breach of contract and mean that they won't have to pay her $1.5 million fee. This however doesn't look to be an option for Fox now as this has all become public and it looks like they will have to pay the star her fee after all.
When auditions resume on Wednesday it will all be made clear as to who the actual judges of the show are, will Cheryl turn up? At this point it looks unlikely as industry publications such as
The Hollywood Reporter are suggesting that negotiations have been made to get Cole her fee and not return to the show. What can definitely be said though is that this is a lot of publicity for the show before it has aired, it has got a lot more press because of this saga and ironically enough a lot more people in the US probably know who Cheryl Cole is now, and her not being a known face was one of the reasons suggested as to why she has been let go of by the show. It has also provided the British tabloids much to talk about as Cole is a media darling in her home country and they are now even speculating that Cole will defect to The Voice, which is currently being developed for UK television.
What do you think of this continuing circus surrounding the X Factor? Does this make you more or less likely to tune in? Or are you not bothered about this kind of show? Let us know in the comments below.
Get The Latest Updates on Tv Series Follow us on twitter @thetvseries