It's war for Simon and Cheryl

Only a month ago Simon Cowell told the world Cheryl Cole was special. On Monday night, however, the TV mogul and the pop star were at war amid claims her advisers demanded £2.5 million (Dh15.12 million) for her to return to the UK X Factor after her axing from the US version. It came after ITV issued a statement confirming the Girls Aloud star will not feature in its judging panel for the TV talent contest. But according to senior sources at both his production company Syco, and ITV, associates of Cole — believed to be led by pop star will.i.am, who became her manager a month ago — wanted the broadcaster to agree to the fee. ITV, however, was apparently prepared only to match the singer's £1.5 million fee from last year's series. Frustrated executives at ITV finally abandoned all attempts at a last-ditch deal on Sunday afternoon. Within hours, it was confirmed that Tulisa Contostavlos from pop band N-Dubz was joining the show alongside Louis Walsh, US pop star Kelly Rowland and Take That singer Gary Barlow. It also emerged yesterday that Cole had been under pressure to lose as much as 12.70 kilograms ahead of her ill-fated appearance on the US X Factor. An unnamed executive at the Fox network is said to have advised her she would need a huge image makeover if she wanted to win over audiences stateside. Cole quickly enlisted the help of Gwyneth Paltrow's personal trainer Tracy Anderson to try to achieve a more svelte physique after developing a curvier figure since battling back to health following a bout of malaria last year.