Simon Cowell Not To Blame For Cheryl Cole Sacking

After watching Cheryl Cole get the boot from last night's X Factor, Fox TV reveals it was never Simon Cowell who wanted her sacked.

After watching last night’s US X Factor, which saw Cheryl Cole get the boot from the judging panel, it was easy to point the finger at TV’s Mr Nasty, Simon Cowell.

SEE CHERYL COLE'S HIGHS AND LOWS IN PICTURES

But it seems it was all down to Fox chief Mike Darnell who made the call to get Cheryl axed from the show, back in May.

Despite the backlash of US criticism of replacing Cheryl Cole with Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, during the premiere, Mike Darnell says he has ‘no regrets’ over his decision.

The order came when Darnell was shocked after seeing the first tapes of Cheryl in LA, and immediately told Simon Cowell to fire her after being underwhelmed by her performances.

Simon immediately went into crisis mode telling a friend, ‘I’ve got major problems. It’s Cheryl. They’ve told me to get rid of her.’

The friend said, ‘I’ve never heard him sound so upset. He was embarrassed and sounded defeated.’ The woman, a senior music industry figure, continued, ‘He was convinced Cheryl would be great in America but that he now realised he had got it badly wrong.'

Though it seems it was Darnell who made the wrong decision, with unhappy U.S. television critics widely preferring Cheryl Cole to her replacement, saying Nicole Sherzinger was a ‘downgrade’ and nothing more than a ‘seatwarmer’ in comparison.

However, ‘the Rumpelstiltskin of reality TV,' Darnell, was unmoved by the critics, and said he was satisfied he made the correct call, despite the show already receiving below-par ratings.

X Factor USA was predicted to achieve 20 million US viewers, but with only 12.5 million Americans tuning in to watch on Wednesday night, it received less than half the audience than American Idol did in its premiere show with 26m.

While Cowell may still battle for world domination, perhaps the Cheryl-sacking, whether his fault or not, may prove to be his downfall...

Did you watch last night’s X Factor USA? Did you prefer Cheryl to Nicole? Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below…

SEE CHERYL COLE'S HIGHS AND LOWS IN PICTURES