Cheryl Cole might be "very different" to her fellow X Factor judgeMel B – but she is full of praise for the feisty former Spice Girl.
"I admit we are very different characters and very different people. But it works. She actually makes me laugh," Cheryl Cole, 30, told the Sun, ahead of Saturday's Summertime Ball.
"Sometimes I have to stop myself laughing at her because it's really rude – the contestants think I'm laughing at them."
The pop star continued, "She's quick and she's very direct. A lot of stuff she says I couldn't bring myself to say. But I love that – it's a good dynamic for the panel."
Cheryl is making her highly-anticipated return to The X Factor after four years away, sitting on the judging panel with Mel, Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh. It will be the first time that she has teamed up with boss Simon since she was unceremoniously dropped from the US version of the show in 2011.
She had her reservations. "I have to admit that at first I thought, 'Oh god, what is this going to be like?' But it really feels like I haven't been gone," Cheryl said.
But it hasn't all been plain sailing for the star, who recently found love with handsome Frenchman Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini.
During a recent appearance on Graham Norton's chat show, she admitted that Louis was not especially pleased to see herback, describing him as "a little bit frosty".
Asked by her host if things were still "off" between the pair, who famously clashed in the past, she joked, "They were never on!"