MONDAY: She was sought after for both the U.K. and the U.S. versions of X Factor. Now Cheryl Cole won’t be a part of either of them. After getting axed from the upcoming Fox edition of the singing competition, there was speculation that Cole would return to the British version of the show. But no deal was reached, and the X Factor network ITV announced earlier today that the judges for the upcoming season of the show will be Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos, Kelly Rowland and the only returning member of the panel, Louis Walsh. “These four are totally up for it, each of them bring a different attitude,” X Factor chief Simon Cowell said in a statement. “They have had a ton of hits between them and they are all committed to finding a star.” Cowell, who made an appearance as a judge on his other U.K. talent competition series, Britain’s Got Talent, over the weekend, got ribbed by co-host Dec over Cole’s dismissal. “Can you understand my accent Simon,” asked Dec, who shares the same Geordie roots as Cole.

SATURDAY: So Sam Rubin from KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles went on air with this report about the Fox X Factor fuck-up. It’s pretty funny:

FRIDAY: Here’s why there’s still no announcement about Fox’s decision to replace UK pop singer Cheryl Cole as a judge on the American version of The X Factor after they saw her Los Angeles auditions: it’s not done yet. To avoid looking like he beat up Britain’s sweetheart, executive producer Simon Cowell is trying to make sure that Cole can go back to being a judge on the UK version of his show which starts filming next Wednesday. But those judges are already set and that talent competition has been thrown into chaos as well. Now the lawyers are trying to look for loopholes so Cole can save face. She’s already returned to Britain along with Cowell. If they can’t, then there’s still the very slim possibility that she could stay on board the U.S. series while waiting-in-the-wings replacement Nicole Schezinger will stay as co-host. C’mon, do any of us even care? Except for the fact that this is really starting to look like a big fat Simon screw-up before his show even gets on the air.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE 6 PM: “Nothing is definite now. But they do know it’s not working, and they’re trying to figure it out.” That’s what a source tells us about how Fox and The X Factor and Simon Cowell are mulling the replacement of UK pop singer Cheryl Cole as a judge on the show. We’ve learned that Fox ”isn’t thrilled with the chemistry” when they saw all four judges interact together for the first time at the Los Angeles auditions and felt the weak link was Cole. “She may be Britain’s sweetheart but nobody knows her here,” the source says. (Toldja!) Now what to do about her contract? Some people are trying out the lame spin on us that “Cheryl is very close to her family and homesick for Britain.” Yeah, sure.

WEDNESDAY 4PM: Maybe it was that strong Newcastle accent that hurt her. Or else the chemistry might have been wrong. But TMZ is reporting right now that former Pussycot Doll lead singer Nicole Scherzinger will replace UK pop singer Cheryl Cole as a judge on The X Factor. Scherzinger had already been selected as the show’s host while Cole had been hand-picked by executive producer Simon Cowell as a judge first for the British version of the show and then recently for the U.S. version. The problem about this switcheroo, if true, is that Cole already taped the Los Angeles auditions and an insider tells Deadline that there is “no way to do away with that footage. A lot of talented people have auditioned there. It will have to be carefully edited with cutaways.” Presently there is no official confirmation or denial of Cole’s removal. Scherzinger — who is a singer, songwriter, and dancer – recently served as a guest judge on the UK version of The X Factor, but Cowell has said he always wanted her to host his Fox version.