Simon Cowell Addresses Cheryl Cole’s ‘X Factor’ Exit + Traumatizing Auditions

Simon Cowell has broken his silence about Cheryl Cole being ousted as a judge on the American version of 'X Factor.' Cole served as a judge on the British version of the hit show, but she was promptly dropped from the domestic panel, with the press speculating that her thick accent and her tension with Paula Abdul was the deciding factor.

Cowell has finally addressed the matter, according to CNN, saying, "I will tell you what happened. We produced this in the UK... A few of us made the decision that we felt that Cheryl was going to be more comfortable doing the UK show than the US show. She was offered her gig to come back to the UK [show] but she didn't." So, why did Cowell think Cole would be more comfortable on the UK show? He didn't say.

Cowell also shot down the rumors of a rift between Cole and Abdul, saying, "Well if it was a question of not getting along with Paula, then I wouldn’t be on the show. I just thought that Cheryl returning back to the UK would be a good headline." Yeah, well, apparently Cole didn't share those feelings. Cowell doesn't harbor any regret about the parting of ways with Cole, saying, "When you have to make a decision as a producer you have to do it." He deemed Cole's replacement Nicole Scherzinger "a revelation."

Abdul weighed on how 'X Factor' differs from 'American Idol,' which is where she and Cowell first collaborated. She said, "Simon is a completely different species on this show. He has turned into me. He has turned into a pussycat." We'll believe that when we see it once the show airs.

Cowell did remind us that children as young as 13 can audition for the show, and with that young age comes sass and attitude. Cowell said that some of the hopefuls are "lippy" and that he was "quite traumatized after my interaction with them... And parents are parents and they go nuts with me anyways." Translation: 'X Factor' is going to be fun to watch, especially if the acid-tongued Cowell gets cut down to size.

Cowell was also adamant that 'X Factor' is markedly different than his former gig 'American Idol' and new hit on the block 'The Voice.' Cowell invites the competition, since producers strive to be better than other shows out there. "I wouldn’t have done the show if it wasn’t going to be different," Cowell asserted. "I felt that the time is now and our job as judges is to find people who have star quality and turn them into stars. This show is completely different from 'AI,' even though they are both talent competitions... For the next few months we are going to throw everything at this to make it the very best show."

'X Factor' debuts on Sept. 21 on FOX.