Hang on a friggin’ second, we’re confused. We assumed Cheryl Cole’s performance as a judge on X Factor USA was so poor that she had to be axed.
We naively trusted in Simon Cowell’s judgement that American audiences simply wouldn’t warm to her, yet on this occasion it seems the big man was wrong.
The reviews are in for the show following its premiere last night and most of the critics have nothing but praise for Cheryl
"In the premiere she just kind of disappears mid-show, without much explanation, and suddenly Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls is in her chair” said the NY Times, adding: "It's a downgrade. Ms Cole showed glimmers of being interesting."
The LA times seems similarly confused by Cheryl’s firing saying: "Cowell has said he replaced Cole because she seemed 'bewildered,' but on a first impression, she is much more interesting than Scherzinger, if only for her fabulous Geordie accent."
The Chicago Tribune chipped in saying: "She seemed perfectly at ease with the other judges - and perfectly easy to understand."
It’s just a shame the reviews for Steve Jones haven’t been quite so flattering; one critic from the NY Times described him as "utterly irrelevant", while one at the Boston Herald said he "is so far in the background, he might as well be on another network".
So maybe Simon fired the wrong Brit?
