The majority of British viewers of ITV show The X Factor would have welcomed former judge Cheryl Cole’s return to the programme’s UK panel following her shock exit from the US version, our poll from just prior to the announcement of the new panel line-up has found.
Despite such apparent support, however, a sizeable amount of viewers were decidedly ambivalent about whether Cheryl’s presence would improve the programme as a whole.
It has recently been confirmed that Cole will not feature in this year’s judging panel.
- 61% of X Factor viewers said Cheryl Cole should return as a judge on the UK show following the singer’s return from the USA, in response to our poll sent just before the new panel line up was announced
- When asked whether the X Factor would be better or worse without Cheryl Cole, 47% of viewers thought her presence would make ‘no difference’, with 31% saying she would ‘make it worse’ and 18% feeling it would be ‘better’ if she were involved
- Regarding Cole’s sacking from the American judging panel, 32% of viewers felt that the decision to let her go was ‘right’, compared to a larger 49% who though it was ‘wrong’
ITV show The X Factor, which is masterminded by record producer Simon Cowell and purports to find and nurture new singing talent that is then put to a public vote, is due to start its eighth series later this year. The new judging panel line-up consists of previous member band manager Louis Walsh, producer and one-fifth of extremely popular boy band Take That, Gary Barlow, American member of US girl group Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland and one-third of British hip-hop band N-Dubz, Tulisa Contostavlos.
Reasons behind Cheryl Cole’s sacking from US X Factor remain unclear, with rumours circulating that Americans found it difficult to understand her Geordie (Newcastle) accent.
