Cheryl Cole to quit X Factor after next series so she can have a baby

Me next? Cheryl with pregnant Dannii Minogue this week

She has kept up her X Factor judging duties while launching a solo singing career and becoming the face of a beauty advertising campaign.
But now Cheryl Cole is planning to quit the TV talent show to embark on a more homely project - she wants to start a family with footballer husband Ashley.
The Fight For This Love singer, who is also the face of L’Oreal, plans to sign up to a £1.5million X Factor deal that will take her up until the series, due to launch in August, ends in December, the Daily Mail has learned.
However, then she wants to bow out to have a baby - and is even prepared to turn down Simon Cowell’s bid to get her on board for the new U.S. version of the TV talent contest.
‘Cheryl has made it clear that she wants to have a baby sooner rather than later,’ a source close to the 26-year-old brunette revealed.
‘This is something she knows she has to plan. She will be 27 in June and she really wants to start a family with Ashley.’
Despite this, Cowell is still keen to get Mrs Cole on board as a judge for his American version of the X Factor, which will launch in the U.S. in autumn next year.
Cowell, 50 - who recently regained the rights to his hit TV formats, including the X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, in a deal with Sony - admitted: ‘She’d be great over here - Cheryl’s a star.’
All of the judges on the ITV show are yet to sign up as contracts are finalised just weeks before auditions start in May, while Cowell is days away from announcing a three-year deal with ITV.
But it has become apparent it would be extremely gruelling for Mrs Cole to film a series this year, as well as two series - both UK and U.S. versions - next year.

‘Cheryl has not been formerly approached about going on American X Factor,’ the source added. ‘Of course she is flattered with all the talk, but she would think carefully before signing up.

 

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‘She has Ashley to think about and America would involve a lot of travelling.
‘Also, if she was pregnant by then it would make things difficult. But on the other hand, the show would make her a worldwide star.’

On show: Dannii Minogue, Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole pose for the camera this week at the National TV Awards in London

Mrs Cole, who married the Chelsea and England footballer in 2006, admitted she was ‘feeling broody’ as she tenderly patted X Factor’s Dannii Minogue’s stomach.
Speaking at the National TV Awards on Wednesday, she said her co-star’s pregnancy was ‘fantastic news’.
Miss Minogue’s future on the show is also in doubt as she will give birth weeks after auditions start.

Ready for the next step: Ashley and Cheryl Cole arrive at a party in London in January

Meanwhile, X Factor host Dermot O’Leary confirmed he was heading to the U.S. for talks with X Factor broadcaster Fox.
‘I’d love the job - it would be a dream, but I’m not sure if Simon would have a British judge and a British host on an American show,’ he said.