Cheryl Cole will reportedly return to the judging panel of The X Factor USA, just over a week after she was allegedly axed from her role on the show.
According to the News of the World, Cole is expected to rejoin filming on Wednesday, when auditions begin again in New Jersey. Nicole Scherzinger, who was rumoured to be replacing the Girls Aloud star on the panel after her departure, will now return to her original role as co-host with Steve Jones.
An insider has suggested that Simon Cowell is partly responsible for Cole's rehiring, saying: "This is the biggest surprise of the lot - Cheryl is back. Who could possibly have predicted this - it appeared that Simon had dumped Cheryl for good?
"But behind the scenes Simon has been wooing Cheryl. And key executives at Fox all realised they had made a big mistake. They have been watching the tapes of her at the American auditions and realising that she could be a huge star over there."
Previous reports had suggested that Cole had been refusing Cowell's phone calls after her alleged exit from The X Factor USA, and she has since been replaced in her judging role in the UK version of the show by N-Dubz star Tulisa Contostavlos.
Fox has so far refused to confirm that Cole had originally left the show, or that she will be present for next week's auditions, although producers have reportedly suggested that Cole will feature in audition footage from Chicago and Los Angeles when The X Factor USA premieres later in the year.
Publicity stunt in it's finest.
