Cheryl Cole has said that it was Simon Cowell's constant begging that convinced her to return to The X Factor.
In the pair's first interview since Cheryl's comeback was announced, the singer joked that Simon's tears finally made her decide to rejoin the judging panel.
Cheryl and Simon officially announced that the singer was returning to the X Factor
"There's only so much begging one can take," Cheryl said during an interview on Daybreak. "It's not nice to see a grown man cry, so I finally succumbed. "Cheryl, 30, and Simon famously fell out when he sacked her from the US version of The X Factor in 2011 after just one episode.And the new dad again admitted that he had made a mistake. "You know what, I've been doing this for a long time. You have fallouts. I held my hands up and said I was sorry, and I was sorry," he said. "And then when I decided I wanted to come back (to the UK X Factor), I also decided I had to have Cheryl back on the show with me."
Cheryl joked that Simon begged her to come back on the show
Asked if he was excited to bring back the spark the pair had shared in the 2012 series of the show, he added, "When you mention 2012, I have great memories of that show. "Certainly Cheryl and Simon's playful relationship seemed back on track during the laid-back interview, as they laughed and joked around together.
The former Girls Aloud star revealed that the pair finally got back in contact when she decided to play a birthday prank.
Cheryl looked stylish as she arrived for the press conference
"I heard a rumour saying he didn't want anyone to know it was his birthday, which highly amused something inside of me," Cheryl said. "So I found out from people where he was, how long he was going to be there, was he there on his birthday, and I sent a plane with a banner. "I just let the whole place know it was his birthday, what age he was — and I made it fly around the same amount of time as the age he was. "I think his response was 'I am going to kill you.' But I was highly amused for a long time. "Cheryl announced her triumphant return to The X Factorat a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.Asked about her change of heart, she admitted, "If you'd asked me the previous two years, I'd have said, 'Absolutely not'," before saying that coming back to the reality show now "just feels right".So far, it is not know who will join Cheryl, Simon and Louis Walsh on the judging panel. Simon has revealed that Cheryl will play a part in that decision, saying, "We've spoken to people but we did agree when Cheryl agreed to come back on the show that we would agree together. "I am not going to put someone next to her that she hates. "The 54-year-old has confirmed that Dermot O'Leary will return as the show's presenter, and that auditions would once again start in a closed room before moving on to the arena stage.