Cheryl Cole will reportedly return to the judging panel of The X Factor USA, just over a week after she was said to be axed from the show. 

The Girls Aloud star is expected to rejoin filming on Wednesday, when auditions begin again in New Jersey. It is alos believed that  Nicole Scherzinger, who was rumoured to be replacing Cole on the panel after her departure, will now return to her original role as co-host with Steve Jones, says the News of the World.

Simon Cowell is said to be  partly responsible for Cole’s rehiring, an insider suggested. They said: “This is the biggest surprise of the lot – Cheryl is back. Who could possibly have predicted this – it appeared that Simon had dumped Cheryl for good?

“But behind the scenes Simon has been wooing Cheryl. And key executives at Fox all realised they had made a big mistake. They have been watching the tapes of her at the American auditions and realising that she could be a huge star over there.”