Cheryl’s comeback after the exit factor

Judge’s name touted in plans for talent show return Is Cheryl set to return to the small screen?

After reports that Simon Cowell’s The X Factor will relaunch in 2022, Talk TV hears it could mean a comeback for Cheryl, too.

Sources say the 37-yearold’s name has been brought up in talks around the new series.

The Girls Aloud star has been quiet after the BBC’s The Greatest Dancer – another of Simon’s shows – was ditched last year after just two series.

An insider says: “Cheryl is still very much in the Cowell fold. She trusts him and he enjoys working with her.

“He brought her back on TV with The Greatest Dancer and could do the same with the new series of X Factor.”

It may or may not be music to your ears that the ITV show is set to return.

The talent contest was axed in 2019 after celebrity and band versions failed to interest disillusioned fans. Despite reigning supreme for 16 years, the show was taken off air after viewing figures plummeted.

But it has been reported that plans are in place to bring it back next year. It comes after Simon, 61, was spotted back in London this month.

An insider says: “It’s all systems go for X Factor 2022. Bosses feel it’s been given enough of a rest and hope by next year, fans will be ready to welcome it back with open arms.”

Cheryl – who is mum to three-yearold Bear, who she shares with her One

Direction ex Liam Payne, 27 – became a judge on the show in 2008.

She mentored two of the eventual winners – Alexandra Burke and Joe McElderry – before leaving in 2011 to join the panel of the US version, which she left during the audition stage.

She returned to judge series 11 and 12 of the UK version.

X Factor ran from 2004 until 2018. In 2019, Simon tried to revamp the concept with two new versions – X Factor: Celebrity and X Factor: The Band – but neither caught on.

The X Factor’s return would herald a turning point in Simon’s recent misfortunes after Covid also forced him to ditch this year’s Britain’s Got Talent.

He also broke his back last year and had to have surgery after falling off an electric bike.