Cheryl Cole: will she bring The X Factor back to glory?

With Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole back on the X Factor judging panel, is the ITV talent show set for resurgence?

Simon Cowell recently had one baby, with son Eric born four weeks ago. Now he’s being more attentive to his other baby too. The eccentric svengail will not only return to The X Factor judging panel for this autumn’s series but last night announced that Geordie popstrel Cheryl Cole is coming back too.

NEWS: Cheryl Cole returns to X Factor

While Cowell has been focusing his efforts on launching an American version, it’s not been a vintage few years for the ITV karaoke contest. Talent has proved uninspiring. Judges such as Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos have split opinion. It’s been routinely trounced in the ratings by BBC rival Strictly Come Dancing. With the reunion of Cowell and Cole on the panel, though - replacing Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger - it might just become required viewing again.

After sitting next to her for three years, Cowell adored Cole so much that he flew her across the Atlantic to work alongside him on The X Factor US. However, she failed to click with audiences, partly due to her accent, and Cowell was infamously forced to fire her just weeks into her Stateside role. It was humiliating for Cole and relations have been understandably frosty ever since.