There has been no more avid observer of the distress of sacked X Factor judge Cheryl Cole than Coleen Rooney. Every twist in Cole’s dramatic exit from the U.S. version of the talent show has been followed by the 25-year-old wife of England footballer Wayne Rooney.
She has been especially intrigued by the suggestion that Cheryl was dropped because Americans could not understand her thick Geordie accent.
For Coleen, I learn, may be harbouring suspicions that her own ambitions to appear in the home-grown version of Simon Cowell’s TV show have been dashed by her pronounced Liverpool accent.
Coleen, who presented the Merseyside segment of the show’s live final last year, had been in talks about taking an enhanced role in the series. She had meetings with programme executives last month and told friends she was confident of being hired to appear on sister show The Xtra Factor and as an occasional presenter on the main programme.
But Coleen, who has turned herself into a multi-millionaire TV presenter and magazine columnist, suffered a setback last week, I can reveal. She was told she would not be needed.
The mother-of one, who has fronted her own ITV series Real Women, was said to be very upset by the decision. ‘Coleen is concerned her Scouse accent might have been a major reason for her failure,’ says a TV production figure. ‘She was never going to be a judge but she thought she was in line for a secondary role and had the right profile for X Factor.’
Former BBC and ITN newscaster and fellow Liverpudlian Peter Sissons has leapt to the defence of Coleen: ‘She has a very pleasant, comprehensible Scouse accent. It is middle of the range and perfectly understandable.’
A senior X Factor source confirms Coleen was considered: ‘She was definitely in the mix but it didn’t work out,’ I am told.
A spokeswoman for co-producers Talkback Thames says: ‘We consider a large number of people every year but we never divulge any names until we announce the judges and presenters.’
Source: Daily Mail
