Cowell Viewed Cole As “A Much Bigger Risk” Than Scherzinger

According to Us Magazine, Simon Cowell’s decision to replace Cheryl Cole as a judge on ‘The X Factor’ with Nicole Scherzinger centered on the music mogul’s belief that the Girls Aloud star was “a much bigger risk” for the new show to be a success. “Throughout the whole decision making process, Simon was really torn between Cheryl and Nicole,” a source close to the former Pussycat Dolls singer said. “He absolutely loved Nicole, really felt like she was the right one, but also knew his chemistry with Cheryl had been great before in the U.K. He finally decided on the more comfortable option and chose Cheryl.” When they started taping ‘X Factor’ shows, Cowell began to believe selecting Cheryl was a mistake, leading to the shocking personnel change.