NEWSSimon Cowell On 'The X Factor' & Cheryl Cole's Exit: "Not Happy With the Way It Played Out"
Aug. 24 2011, Published 10:12 a.m. ET
Simon Cowell has recruited Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and Steve Jones for his American version of The X Factor, but it didn't get put together without quite a bit of drama. Simon reveals in the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter that he and Cheryl Cole haven't spoken since she left the show.
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According to Simon in the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter, Cheryl expressed hesitation about doing the U.S. version of X Factor two weeks before taping.
"I came to the conclusion that she may not be as comfortable here, because I was seeing a different person,” he explained. “She was like Princess Diana when she would walk out in England, and I accepted the fact that people didn’t know her here. But I think it did have an effect on her.”
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On day two of filming, Simon called Cheryl. “I said, 'Cheryl, you’ve got to raise your game a bit,'" he recalled. "'This is America, it’s a much tougher market.'"
They discussed Cheryl returning to the UK show, but Cheryl never responded to the final offer and the two haven't spoken since.
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But Simon has high hopes for the new team he's put together to be a big success.
He wants more than 20 million viewers each week and hopes The X Factor will create buzz.
"In England, you genuinely get the feeling the whole country is talking about the show," he said. "I hope for that."
