War of the X Factor judges goes public: After weeks of simmering resentment, Louis bellows at Cheryl on screen

By ALISON BOSHOFF

Battle for the limelight: Cheryl Cole glowers on The Xtra Factor on ITV2 on Sunday evening, and right, Louis Walsh's hackles are raised


PRIVATELY, Louis Walsh has been seething about Cheryl Cole for weeks – like many on The X Factor, he believes she is given preferential treatment at every turn.

And on Saturday night, when she implored him to give Katie Waisell, one of her finalists, a chance, hostilities were openly declared.

He bellowed, pink-faced: ‘I have an opinion. It’s not all about you, Cheryl!’.

On Sunday, on ITV2’s The Xtra Factor, the row continued. Presenter Konnie Huq read out a viewer’s question asking: ‘Do you get jealous because Cheryl gets all the attention?’

Walsh replied: ‘Oh she always gets the attention, she’s the nation’s sweetheart.’
And yesterday he told X Factor magazine: ‘I’m fed up listening to her! It’s not her show.’

Asked if Cheryl was upset with him following Saturday’s show, he snorted: ‘I don’t care! I’m not here to keep her happy.’

And if that’s not enough to wipe the dimples off that pretty face, Cheryl actually finds herself beset by crises on many levels. Indeed, to borrow one of her preferred phrases, she seems to be danger of losing her ‘mojo’.


Stuck in the middle: Contestant Katie Waissell was the cause of the row between Cole and Walsh


Perhaps it started as she suffered in public view as her then husband Ashley cheated on her. Or maybe public opinion began to curdle after the dramatic collapse with malaria, followed by claims of a romance with dancer Derek Hough. Whichever way, by the end of the summer there were mutterings that everyone was a little bit fed up with Cheryl.

Even Simon Cowell, usually her greatest cheerleader, started to take ‘jokey’ pot-shots – saying she travelled with ‘50 assistants’ and that she was so catty he needed to bring her a saucer of milk.

Then came the saga of X Factor hopeful Gamu, a beautiful-voiced teenage girl from Scotland who was born in Zimbabwe. After Cheryl refused to select Gamu, there was a huge public backlash. What’s more, her refusal to give the teenager (who, many viewers felt could win the show) a wild card, seemed almost wilfully mean.

Cheryl’s people claimed their star had been advised not to select Gamu because there was trouble over her visa. But everyone else – including the show’s spokesmen – say she had no idea of Gamu’s visa issues, and made her decision on merit.

Whatever the truth, Cheryl’s treatment of Gamu has acted as a lightning conductor for the criticism directed at the judge.


Firm friends: While fellow judge Simon Cowell, right, appears to get on with Walsh, he is reported to have told Cole to 'pull her socks up'
Even though Cheryl has received death threats over Gamu, Cowell thinks that her spat with Louis is ‘hilarious’.


But isn’t the truth that Cheryl Cole is starting to look more and more petulant, and self-centred? The fact that she dashed from Saturday night’s show to perform – for £220,000 – at a charity ball makes her look shallow and money-grabbing.

A friend of Walsh’s said: ‘He’s been bubbling with rage. He thinks Simon Cowell unfairly helps her out – to the extent of picking the songs for her contestants to sing. What really gets Louis’s goat is that she does this poor-little-me act but inside there’s a heart of stone.’

Of course, all this is great publicity for the show. But there is a huge PR operation pushing Cheryl’s image of innocent wholesomeness. There is a personal assistant, a driver, a team of PRs, two stylists, a hair and make-up team, a large security detail and three agents.

And aware of the fickle nature of fame, Cheryl, 27, and her team are milking it.
Her diary is full until Christmas – and plans for 2011 are well-advanced.
A new picture book...an official calendar...the l’Oreal shampoo deal...Elnett hairspray deals...an arrangement with Swiss jewellers De Grisogono...a solo album...a new single, Promise This, to be sung on The X Factor in a cynical piece of self-promotion. It’s no surprise that there are signs of Cheryl fatigue. Personal branding expert Lesley Everett says: ‘There is a danger of people starting to get a bit fed up with Cheryl, especially as she is associated with so many brands.’

Her wardrobe is an example of trying too hard. She clearly overdid the fake tan on Saturday. And although she wore a one-shouldered black dress by Project Runway finalist Daniel Vosovic, the consensus of the fashion pack is that she was outshone by Dannii Minogue in sculptured white lace.

Cheryl’s punishing work schedule – and the prospect of moving to LA in the New Year to launch herself in the U.S. – has made the pop singer feel somewhat wobbly lately.
However, Cowell has firmly told her to pull her socks up. There is certainly a sense that she is supremely motivated. Guided by Cowell, she is convinced that she must seize her chance now to leap from being a domestic diva to a global star.

She will try to become a U.S. celebrity with the patronage of Cowell and well-placed friends such as Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas. Her team talk about it as Phase Two of her career.

The extent to which Cowell will help is a moot point. He has been blowing hot and cold over whether she will be among The X Factor judges when he launches the show in the U.S. next autumn.

Earlier this year he had decided against Cheryl, and was wooing Katy Perry and Nicole Scherzinger.

Of course, this is torture for Cheryl. But the question remains: will Cowell make up his mind before the British public start to tire of her?


source: dailymail