X Factor tops the ratings as Cheryl Cole drops off the radar
Out of sight: Cheryl turned down Cowell's 2million TV offer
Considering they are portrayed as arch-rivals, it was an intriguing gesture. On new X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavloss first day in the job, she received a huge bouquet of flowers from the very person she had replaced on the show: Cheryl Cole.
A simple act of kindness on the part of the Girls Aloud singer? Or a canny attempt to draw a line under the constant attempts to pit them as rivals?
Who knows? But it certainly shows a level of magnanimity by Cheryl, not least because, just as Tulisas stock is rising, Cheryls appears to be falling.
Tulisa - the outspoken star of hip-hop band N Dubz - has undoubtedly made an immediate impact as an X Factor judge. Like Cheryl, she has been styled to within an inch of her life, but she is five years younger and demands barely a tenth of her salary.
With an expensive wardrobe mimicking Cheryls highly-polished look, a 12,000 set of porcelain veneers to correct her wonky smile (another procedure her predecessor underwent) and a natural knack for one-liners, she has taken over the role as if to the manner born.
A confident girl, Tulisa snorted with derision when she was accused of aping Cheryls hairstyle. Wow, I didnt know Cheryl invented the plait, was her withering response.
Hard though it may be for Cheryl to cope with the comparisons to her successor, harder still will be the inevitable fading of public interest in her now her face is no longer beamed into millions of living rooms on a Saturday night.
Next month, the Fox Network will broadcast footage of her brief U.S. X Factor appearance, but after that it is difficult to predict what her! next mo ve may be.
The fact she has her ex-husband Ashley Cole back by her side may be an adequate comfort for now. Despite months of denials from her PR minders, my sources tell me that Cheryl is regularly spending time with him at their marital home and has even arranged for many of her clothes to be moved back in.
Having made meaningful contact in the spring, the couple have settled into a companionable routine.
Ashley was a notable guest at Cheryls 28th birthday party at the end of June, where she performed a lap dance for him, and in recent weeks the couple have met up a number of times. On one occasion - a mutual friends housewarming party - Ashley serenaded his ex-wife with a karaoke love song. Cheryl reciprocated by giving him a pendant symbolising love, strength, togetherness and eternity.
Her closest confidante and Girls Aloud bandmate, Kimberley Walsh, recently invited the couple to her home to share a pizza.
Given Ashleys track record of repeatedly cheating on her, it is nothing short of remarkable that Cheryl is even considering taking him back, and her family and friends are said to be deeply concerned about the development.
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So what does Cheryl do with her time these days? Following the disappointment of her attempt to make it big in the U.S. - culminating in her abrupt sacking by Simon Cowell - the 28-year-old is licking her wounds and taking an extended break from the spotlight.
She has become a virtual recluse, flitting between private residences and hotels in the early hours to dodge both the paparazzi and her army of fanatical fans - or soldiers as she likes to describe them.
She has not been spotted in public for more than three weeks, since her bottom was photographed disappearing into a private jet in Los Angeles en route to the South of France. The same week, Black Eyed Peas singer Will.i.am - Cheryls new mentor - posted a picture of them partying on his Twitter page.
Will.i.am is a major player in the music industry and maintains that plans are afoot to turn Cheryl into a huge star in America.
New mentor: Singer Will.i.am says he can make Cheryl a star in the U.S.
Yet there is scant evidence of this happening.
The only visible signs of career activity are a 2012 calendar, featuring Cheryl in assorted provocative poses, and new advertisements for LOreal hair products.
Her most popular fan site, the Twitter page CherylColeUK - which has an astonishing 230,000 followers - this week announced that it would be suspending activity because of a lack of news.
Cheryl has landed a cameo appearance in a romantic film comedy, What To Expect When You Are Expecting, in which she plays...wait for it...a judge in a TV talent show.
But it is uncertain when she might try to revive her genuinely successful solo career, during which she produced two No1 albums and four Top 10 singles. Critics question how well she might do without the gift of hugely-publicised appearances on The X Factor, which, with its average audience of 14m! illion v iewers, effectively guarantees chart success.
Having fallen out so spectacularly with Simon Cowell (she has steadfastly refused to take his calls, even when he was offering her a 2million contract to return to The X Factor) that ship appears to have sailed.
Rival: New X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos
Indeed, this week Simon gave a high-profile interview in which he referred to Cheryl in less-than-glowing terms.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter website, he explained that she was sacked from the U.S. X Factor because she was uncomfortable in the bigger American market.
I was seeing a different person, he said. She was like Princess Diana when she would walk out in England, and I accepted the fact that people didnt know her here. I think it did have an effect on her.
He went on to reveal that Cheryl was so quiet that on the second day of filming for the U.S. show he took her aside and warned her to raise her game. When he offered her the alternative of a return to the British version, on twice as much money, she snubbed his calls and they have not spoken since.
Cowell is unrepentant, stating baldly: Youre not drowning puppies here. Youre offering someone whos got millions of dollars more money and more work. And if people think thats cruel, then they can do that to me on a daily basis. Ill take it twice a day.
He is not the only person to speak out about Cheryl this week.
Buoyed by the positive public reaction to the new judging line-up on Britains most popular TV show, her old sparring partner Louis Walsh hasnt been pulling his punches.
This year, weve got people who deserve to be there, he said this week. They are more credible than our previous judges and theyre not afraid to tell it how it is.
Weve got an awful lot of part-time pop stars in the UK - people who win these shows and are more famous for being on the red carp! et or fa lling out of clubs.
They want to marry a footballer, you know the types. You have to have a talent and a reason to be famous.
Considering Cheryl found fame by winning a TV talent show, gained infamy by assaulting a nightclub toilet attendant and married an England footballer, one could be forgiven for wondering whether Louis had her in mind.
Back together? Cheryl's family are reported to be concerned that she might be back with ex-husband Ashley
To add insult to injury, her former bodyguard, a burly American by the name of Craig Balkam, spilled the details of her reclusive life to a downmarket tabloid.
Balkam is reported to have revealed to a pal that Cheryl was so paranoid about her weight that she frequently went on crash diets. For days on end she would live on nothing but water with a dash of lemon juice and cayenne pepper, but would then binge on junk food, he claimed.
Visits to the gym took place at 5am, to avoid prying eyes, and Cheryl would allegedly undo all her good work by smoking 20 cigarettes a day and eating piles of marshmallows and chocolate.
According to Balkam, she fretted about unflattering photos being taken of her and was painstaking about her appearance - using a hairdresser and sometimes a make-up stylist whenever she was going out.
And as for her former boyfriend, American dancer Derek Hough, she was never openly affectionate with him and he seemed far keener on her than she was on him.
It was predictably unkind stuff, condemned by Cheryls spokesman with the words: Seems like the pal has watched The Bodyguard one too many times.
Missing in action: The new series of X Factor is attracting millions of viewers, despite Cheryl's absence from the screen
Whatever the tru! th of th e minders story, his most telling assertion was that Cheryl remained clearly in love with her ex-husband.
Plans are now afoot for a clear-the-air dinner with both families in attendance - foremost among them being Cheryls formidable mother, Joan.
In the meantime, Ashley has overseen a sprucing-up of the marital home on the outskirts of Godalming, Surrey, while many of Cheryls personal effects have been moved back in.
A source close to the star says: Visitors argue that in some ways she never moved out. There are still photographs of the couple on the walls despite their public separation.
This clandestine courtship has been no mean feat, given the 100,000 bounty on a single photograph of them together. Yet Ashley has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid exposure, even hiring a security company to patrol the estate around the clock, moving on any unwanted observers.
All of which goes some way to explain how Cheryl has managed to stay off the radar for weeks on end.
No doubt she has been enjoying the novelty of her time out of the spotlight, during which, as she explained on a rare online blog, she has taken the opportunity to see my friends and family and be with my doggys.
Yet her reclusiveness is not without risk - surely her future career depends on publicity. Particularly as the X Factors producers are so keen to point out that Cheryl is now part of the programmes history, not its future.
So it is that Cheryl Cole, so recently touted as the biggest star of her generation, is preparing to go back to square one.
Next year, Girls Aloud, the girl band which made her name, will be reuniting for a tenth anniversary tour.
A comedown? Certainly, Cheryl the solo superstar will once again find herself just one fifth of a larger group - but given the spectacular success of the Take That reunion, and the publics enduring affection for her, whos to say that this determined and resilient woman hasnt found the perfect springboard for a comeback?
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