“I came to the conclusion that she may not be as comfortable here (in the US) because I was seeing a different person. 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..

“I said, ‘Cheryl, you’ve got to raise your game a bit. This is America, it’s a much tougher market.'”

Simon Cowell talks about Cheryl Cole’s flop short stint as a judge on US X-Factor and went on to confirm that he offered her the chance to return to the UK X Factor, but negotiations fell apart and they haven’t spoken since.

“She missed the deadline which meant she’d lost the UK show.

“I asked [her manager] Will.i.am, ‘How does she feel about it?’ He said, ‘It’s none of your concern.’

“I never heard from her… I think her silence was quite damning.”