Simon Cowell’s master plan to get Cheryl back on the X Factor panel

Could it be?

Fans of the show were delighted when Cheryl returned to the X Factor earlier this year. The singer accompanied Simon Cowell to help him whittle down his group at Judges' Houses and viewers have been begging the head judge to bring her back permanently ever since. While the appearance was said to be a special one-off, Simon is now teasing that the former judge could be making a return to the panel next year. It had previously been reported that Cheryl was nearly ready to close a £1.5 million deal to return to the show, however, Simon’s latest comments make her return sound more of a certainty than ever.

“Nothing’s a done deal and I do like this panel, but the good news is that now more people want to do the show than before,” Simon told The Sun. “Is Cheryl keen to come back? She is, yes – I guess she is.”

It’s already been confirmed that Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne have signed up for next year’s show and Nicole Scherzinger has also said that she will “most likely” be back too. So where does Cheryl fit? Well, according to Simon, he’s looking at the idea of having a five-person panel.

“In the past I had to beg people to do the show and it wasn’t always that easy. Now, it’s easier to do the show, it’s much more fun. “Maybe I’ll have five people on the panel,” he said.

However, he’s not making any decisions just yet, saying:

“I think I’ll go into the New Year and then see how everyone feels.”