14 DAY TRIAL // Following yesterday’s statement from Freemantle Media confirming that, indeed, Cheryl Cole was out of the US X Factor and there was zero chance for her to return on the judging panel, Simon Cowell too is speaking out on the issue, apologizing for the mess and saying he was actually looking out for Cheryl.
Since word first got out in the media that Cole had been fired from the show after only 4 days at auditions, Cowell has been painted as the bad guy in the media, because he’d been instrumental in bringing her from the UK to the US.
He’s aware of that, which is why he has decided to speak out on the issue, he says in a statement sent to the British media and quoted by PopEater.
The truth is, after 4 days, it became clear to everybody that Cole was not at the top of her game on the show, due to a combination of factors, among which her thick accent was not one, he says.
“The feeling was that she was slightly out of her comfort zone in America,” Cowell explains, adding that a difficult year added to Cheryl’s stress of trying to break onto a new market.
“The intention was to do it quietly and say to her she had an option to rejoin the UK show. At the end of the day we were saying, ‘Move to another show for even more money’,” Cowell adds, confirming that Cole was offered her job back in the UK, for an even bigger paycheck.
“There was an offer of around £2.5 million on the table including bonuses. How is that [firing] someone?” he says.
Nevertheless, Cheryl turned down the offer. Simon confirms she sent him a text when all hell broke loose in the US, telling him she was feeling “disappointed” in him, but that she understood.
“I embarrassed her... But the truth was I was protecting her. I just want people to be in the best place at the right time,” Cowell says.
“I replied saying, ‘This was never personal or saying you were terrible.’ It wasn’t that she was terrible – she was good. I just thought she’d be happier in the UK,” Simon further says.
As of this moment, Cheryl Cole remains in hiding. Word in the British media has it that various major networks are going up against each other in a bid to land her as the main star of their own show.