Cheryl Cole Officially Out at 'The X Factor,' Replaced by Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger

As we've been reporting for the past couple weeks, there has been intense speculation that Simon Cowell fave Cheryl Cole was on her way out of "The X Factor" after the auditions she participated in early on in the show's production didn't go as well as Fox execs had anticipated.

It was widely reported that Cole's accent was to blame, another source cited her "negative demeanor," and the British tabloids speculated it was all because no one in the States knew who in the hell she was.

A new suggestion has emerged that makes sense in a far less dramatic way - Cole was out of sorts and a bit homesick, and may have simply felt it was a mistake.

“After the Chicago auditions, producers suggested she might be happier returning to the UK panel and her management clearly indicated she’d be happy to consider that,” a source told Entertainment Weekly. “It wasn’t meant to be the case she was being fired. She was offered an alternative [to work on the UK version] for more money where they thought she might be happier.”

Of course, this could all be an elaborate publicity scheme cooked up by Cowell to keep "The X Factor" in the papers in the face of wildly popular new competitor "The Voice."

Whatever the reason, she's outta there, and as we suspected, she'll be replaced by former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. Scherzinger has filled in as a guest judge for Cole in the U.K. version of "The X Factor" and has experience working with the notoriously difficult Cowell.

This means the final judging panel for the $5 million show will be producer L.A. Reid, Paula Abdul, and Nicole Scherzinger.

Wanna see what Scherzinger brings to the judging table besides a hard body?

Watch the video for "Right There" featuring 50 Cent: