After three years away, Nicole Scherzinger made a triumphant return to the X Factor last month - but there have been some big changes since she last appeared on the show, not least to Simon Cowell, who is now a father to two-year-old son Eric.
"He's changed," Nicole, 38, said of her fellow judge during a recent interview with Glamour magazine. "He's on the soft side. I find myself agreeing with him… that's not normal!
"Eric is so sweet, he speaks such proper English, it cracks me up," the star continued. "I feel like his IQ is higher than mine! It's great to see Simon so happy."
© Photo: FacebookSimon Cowell pictured with his son Eric
Nicole's career is riding high – and so too is her personal life. The US star has been dating tennis ace Grigor Dimitrov since July 2015, and she couldn't be happier.
"I'm in a really good, solid, more balanced place in my life. I've grown a lot as a woman," she said. "My grandma always used to say, to find the person you wanna marry, you have to find the person you wanna work on your relationship with for the rest of your life. That's the key word: work."
Nicole went on to dismiss the "ridiculous" rumours that she was dating Calvin Harris, which first emerged in July when the pair were pictured leaving a nightclub together arm-in-arm.
Nicole has been dating Grigor Dimitrov since July last year
"It was all: 'She's the biggest cheater'. I'm like, excuse me? I was walking on cobblestones, almost fell, grabbed him, two frames and that was it. It's ridiculous," she explained.
During the interview, Nicole also shared her disappointment at losing out on the chance to play CJ Parker in the upcoming Baywatch movie, a role that ultimately went to Kelly Rohrbach.
"I started this year working out every day, motivated to get in shape because I was determined I was gonna be the new Baywatch girl," Nicole admitted. "I was hell-bent, I am an ocean angel, I love it.
"I was devastated," she added, before joking, "What is my year, what is my life, if I'm not in Baywatch?!"
