Are Cheryl Cole X Factor rumours simply panto?

Were the Americans going to understand Cheryl Cole’s accent? That was the all-important question occupying the showbiz glitterati a matter of weeks ago.

Now, in an unexpected turn of events, rumours are rife that the former Girls Aloud singer has been replaced on the US version of the X Factor by Nicole Scherzinger.

Was Cheryl sacked? Was she homesick? Or is Simon Cowell, the master music mogul, pulling another PR stunt?

Celebrity website TMZ reported that Cole was primarily dropped from the judging panel because producers feared the American audience would not understand her Geordie accent.

Read more: Cheryl Cole in X factor controversy

There were also concerns that the former Girls Aloud star had a “lack of chemistry” with fellow X Factor judge Paula Abdul, the website said.

But The Sun reported that Cole was quitting the programme because she was missing friends and family in Britain.

Is it panto?

DJ and former Pop Idol judge Neil Fox has known Simon Cowell for 16 years. He told Channel 4 News there could be several reasons for the rumours surrounding Cheryl Cole’s X Factor future.

He said: “Simon’s a shrewd guy – he knows his business and knows full well that if there’s no chemistry between the guys on the panel you’ve got to change it.

“If you’ve made a bad decision, the worst decision would be to do nothing about it. You have to make an even harder decision which may be dump Cheryl.”

If there’s no chemistry between the guys on the panel, you’ve got to change it. Neil Fox, Pop Idol judge

But Fox was cynical about all the publicity surrounding the show: “Is it all panto? Is she going to come back to the UK X-Factor? Ohhh, can we stand the excitement?

“You kind of think she probably would but she’s going to have to come back with her tail between her legs because I think this was the American dream and at the moment it’s shattered.”

Asked whether Cheryl had the raw talent to make it as a judge in the US, Fox said: “I think over here sometimes we’re a bit more accepting of c**p pop singers because we like our pop.

“Over there I think they like people to be able to sing and I think they’d probably look at Cheryl and think: ‘Who are you and why are you judging other people?'”