'Sorry, it's a No' - accent blamed as Cheryl Cole is dumped from US version of X Factor

Published on Thursday 26 May 2011 16:08

Cheryl Cole is reported to have been replaced as a judge on the forthcoming American version of the X Factor.

The 27-year-old singer's place on the show - which debuts in September - is likely to be taken by former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, according to reports in the US.

Cole is understood to have been dropped from the judging panel mainly because producers feared American viewers would not be able to understand her Geordie accent.

There were also concerns that she had a "lack of chemistry" with fellow judge Paula Abdul.

However, the Sun reported Cole was quitting because she missed friends and family in Britain. A source told the paper: "It hasn't worked out. She's homesick and wants to return to the UK. She's had enough."

Cole was announced as a judge on the US edition of the singing talent show earlier this month after heated speculation about whether she could make it on the other side of the Atlantic.

She was due to be on the panel alongside Abdul, X Factor supremo Simon Cowell and respected former record boss LA Reid.

The move meant her leaving the British version of the hit programme after three years.

Days after her new role was revealed, Cole admitted she had "stepped out of her comfort zone" to do the show in America, but insisted her strong accent would be no problem for US audiences.

She said: "Americans can always understand me. I've been here a lot, I've got a lot of American friends and we have the odd moments where they're like: 'What? What did that mean?'… you know, a phrase.

"But I think that it's going to be something that people get used to. And I'm proud of my accent."

Cowell joked at the time that Cole could mime to someone else's voice to get round any accent problems. "We could do it like Singing In The Rain - just have someone behind a wall just talking and she's got to lip-sync the whole show," he said.

Scherzinger, 32, had been originally due to host the US X Factor alongside the Welsh former T4 presenter Steve Jones.