Simon Cowell has admitted that he finds it “annoying” that Cheryl Cole is more popular than him. Not a hard feat Simon...

Cowell spoke to new! Magazine recently and told them about how he had always wanted Cheryl to join him as a judge on the X Factor:    

"I've always been a fan of Cheryl's. I first got to know her through Comic Relief Does The Apprentice when she was on that.

"And then eventually I persuaded her to do The X Factor. I knew she was going to be good because she speaks like normal people speak. People can relate to that. And I think that is the best sign of a judge.

"Not someone who is sitting there as a vocal coach, but instead saying, 'This is why I like you, this is why I don't like you.' And it's a very, very rare talent. To embarrass her, she's one of the best I've ever worked with."

But on the downside:

"If you bring somebody on a show, you're not bringing them on to be unpopular! I had to really, really twist Cheryl's arm because she didn't know how good she was going to be. "I kept saying to her, 'If you do this, not only is it going to be great for the show, but I think it's going to be great for you.' And she must now be the most popular person on TV - more than me! Annoying, but it happens."  

The question of whether Chezza will join Simon on the US version of the X Factor is still unanswered:

"Nothing's been confirmed yet. We still have a while to go. Cheryl might not even want to do it."

We hope she does!