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Cowell kicks off a new cold war: Cheryl*s back but can*t stand Louis, Simon*s stirring up trouble - and Scary Spice is living up to her name. As The X Factor returns, the panel*s never been frostier
Hell will probably have long frozen over before there is an X Factor panel of jostling egos that actually likes each other.
Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole/Fernandez-Versini (she*d like to be known by the latter surname but everyone uses the former) may have finally buried the hatchet after he humiliatingly sacked her from the American X Factor but she and Louis Walsh still aren*t, shall we say, cosy.
*They have history*, groans Simon as he looks at Cheryl on one side of him and Louis on the other. *They don*t really like each other.*
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Old favourites: This year*s X Factor sees the return of some familiar judges but they*ve not been getting on
When Cheryl was in Girls Aloud, Louis was the band*s manager, although – as she once said – he didn*t manage them very well; they pretty much did it all themselves.
Harsh? Undoubtedly. Untrue? Probably not. The Westlife and Boyzone manager later admitted that he struggled to deal with girls. But that didn*t stop him having a go back at Cheryl. *I am a better manager than she is a singer,* he later said of his one-time protégée, and *two words: voice coach*. The spat was very public and more than a touch childish but it has carried on this year.
Cheryl did not want Louis – who insisted he was leaving last year – back on the panel when she agreed to make her return. Simon overruled her; there are some benefits to being the boss. *I can*t imagine not having him here,* he shrugs.
So how are things now? Well, not good given the frostiness in the air when we catch up with the new X Factor judging panel. In their presence you rather feel like a referee trying to stop children bickering. I ask if they*ve been out for a drink to build bridges. Cheryl snorts. *No!*
Simon, 54, who seems delighted to have got them in the same room, if only to watch sparks fly, laughs uproariously. *Cheryl had it written into her contract that she can*t ever be alone with Louis,* he grins. Cheryl doesn*t disagree. *Well we don*t like each other,* says Cheryl, 31. *I don*t think we ever did. We*ll work together, but there*s no love lost there.*
Louis, 62, is a bit more diplomatic – to a point. *Let*s just say we are very different people. We agree to disagree. In a sense I suppose it*s good for the show. It would be very boring if we thought in the same way.*
SIMON AND CHERYL: IT*S BEEN A ROLLER COASTER JOURNEY


Nov 2009: Fun Factor - It’s laughs all the way duringCheryl’s early years on the panel.


Dec 2009: In Tune - They’re still the best of friends –flirting, sharing jokes, banding together.


Sept 2010: Don’t look now - Cheryl’s smiling sweetly, but Simon looks a little serious...


Nov 2010: Talk to the hand - It’s Cheryl’s lastappearance before Tulisa takes over


My 2011: The big bust-up - Simon hires – and fires– Cheryl from the American X Factor.


March 2014: Friends again -Simon’s overjoyed to havehis feisty sidekick back for the new series.
Indeed; it would be rather boring without all the fights, wouldn*t it? Clearly Simon – back on the panel after three years on his American version of the show – thinks so.
There*s an intriguing moment during our interview where I ask about some of the awful things Cheryl and Louis have said about each other over the years, and they brush it off, but Cowell – Chief Troublemaker, clearly – hits Google to find some of the juiciest gems, reading them out.
He is in his element with two panel members who may or may not end up throwing water over each other by the end of the series. Still, at least he*s candid about his mischief-making. *I think it is boring when people get on too much. The fact that these two don*t like each other is fun to watch, they have different personalities.* How so?
*The thing about Cheryl is that she has that likeability factor,* says Simon. *When a contestant walks into a room they just immediately like her and warm to her. Louis? Not so much*. Ouch. The next question, given that poor Louis seems to be such a whipping boy, has to be *Why is he here then?* *Ah well, he is a good manager and he knows the business,* says Cowell. *You don*t sell 100 million records by accident.*
The surprise, perhaps, is that the anticipated catfight – between Cheryl and new judge Mel B – hasn*t yet happened. Cheryl admits that she was unsure how she was going to get on with the famously terrifying Mel (she was much more scary in the Spice Girls than Victoria was posh).