Cheryl Cole: And She's Off

Oh, what a difference a day can make. First, she was. Then, she wasn't. Then she was. Now, she's not. It's official -- Cheryl Cole WON'T be sitting at the judge's table when the highly anticipated X Factor debuts. Instead, it will be former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger taking the chair that was originally slated to go to the Girls Aloud singer. So far the controversy surrounding the Brit beauty's role on the show has garnered the most publicity with the big "will she or won't she" question lingering for weeks. Simon Cowell is finally speaking out and revealing that the young singer, who was a smash on the UK version of the talent show, won't be a part of the U.S. version... or the UK version, for that matter. Cowell says that he's the one to blame for Cole's roller coaster ride. There's been plenty of talk that Cole was released from the show in part due to her strong British accent and lack of chemistry with fellow judge Paula Abdul. While Cowell stops short of saying that Cole was fired, he is attempting to turn the tables saying he did her a favor. Says Cowell, "The feeling was that she was slightly out of her comfort zone in America. 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'. There was an offer of around £2.5 million on the table including bonuses. How is that [firing] someone?" Cowell went on to say that Cole and her manager, Black Eyed Peas phenom Will.i.am, wouldn't field calls from execs and the offer was withdrawn, leaving her out of both the U.S. AND the U.K. versions of the show. From there, Cowell says he reached out to Cole again and attempted to bring her back to the U.S. show, which resulted in "heated conversations." At the end of the day, negotiations fell apart and the seat was given to Scherzinger. Cowell maintains that he's sorry for what happened to Cole, "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." He adds that she texted him saying she was disappointed by the decision. Says Cowell, "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 U.K." We're thinking this might be an apology not accepted.