Cheryl Cole: Simon begged to have me back

Cheryl Cole is taking great delight in explaining just how much begging Simon Cowell had to do to seal her return to The X Factor.

Bridges between the 30-year-old Geordie lass and her former boss seemed to have been burned for good when she was dumped from the US version of the show after just three weeks.

However, Cowell, 54, appears to have resorted to emotional blackmail to convince Chezza to come back.

‘There’s only so much begging I could take. It’s not nice to see a grown man cry,’ Cole told Guilty Pleasures at London’s glitzy Dover Street Arts Club. ‘The begging went on for a few years.’

Metro revealed back in November that the singer was handed £1.4million compensation from US X Factor bosses over her humiliating sacking back in 2011.

While the cash from her court victory may have softened the blow, the pop beauty says she is not bitter about the past.

‘I don’t hold grudges. I remember facts. And the facts I remember are I won my first two series and I had two in the final of the last series, so the rest of the stuff is irrelevant,’ she said.

And despite reports of a £1.5million deal to tempt her back for the 11th year of the British show, Chezza swears the seven figures are not her motivation.

‘I’m excited to find talent again. Actually, that’s the thing I love the most, it’s discovering the talent. I thrive off that. It just felt like the right time now,’ she said.

With two seats remaining to be filled, Cheryl has been quick to deny reports she doesn’t want another girl on board.

‘There are people I would love to join on the panel. Especially a strong woman, preferably. I’m kind of hoping I don’t have to deal with three guys otherwise I may be appearing on a Saturday night with no hair because I’ve pulled it out,’ she laughed.

[Originally published Metro, Guilty Pleasures, Tuesday 11 March 2014]