Media

New X-Factor judging panel announced – no Cole

By | Published on Tuesday 31 May 2011

The X-Factor

So, Take That’s Gary Barlow, N-Dubz’s Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland will join Louis Walsh on the judging panel for the next series of ‘X-Factor’, if you’re interested.

We sort of knew that already, but of course the whole ‘who will judge this year’ story took an interesting turn last week when Cheryl Cole was spectacularly sacked from ‘X-Factor USA’ for speaking odd and being a bit mopey (so the gossipers say, apparently producers weren’t impressed with her choice of dress for the first audition either, they already being a bit pissed she had shunned their stylist).

There was much chatter that ITV bosses, already nervous about having such a dramatic overhaul of the ‘X-Factor’ UK judging panel in one go, had seized on the opportunity to try and get Cheryl back on their show. Some said she was demanding double the fee to return, while others claimed that she was too angry with Simon Cowell and his entire ‘X’ franchise over her treatment in the US that nothing would get her back onto either versions of the programme. Others still said she was too depressed to be thinking about any new projects.

Either way, with the first auctions due to kick off this week, clearly no deal could be done – assuming one was ever in the offing – in time for ITV’s judging panel announcement this weekend. So what next for Cole?

Well, now there’s speculation she is being courted by makers of the previously reported ‘The Voice’ talent show, which is due to come to the UK on the BBC later this year. Of course Universal Music is the label partner on that show, and Cole is signed to a subsidiary of Universal UK, which might open doors for that deal to be done. The BBC show would unlikely be able to match ITV on money, though given the rumour Cole walked away from ‘X-USA’ with her full series one fee in her pocket, money possibly won’t be a concern.



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