CHERYL COLE’S REPLACEMENT on the US X Factor, singer Nicole Scherzinger, has been at the end of some barbed comments following the airing of the new season’s first episode last night.

US entertainment media has questioned why Cole was removed from the show in the first place, saying that her accent was perfectly intelligible and that she had performed well.

Her replacement wasn’t spared any criticisms, with the New York Times labelling Scherzinger a “downgrade” from Cole – who was unceremoniously removed from the show after the first episode by Simon Cowen.

Cowen removed Cole from the show, saying that her Geordie accent was too difficult for US audiences and that she had looked “bewildered” during filming.

However, TV Guide was puzzling over why Cole was fired, pronouncing her “awesome” and “adorable” – and asked: “Is Cheryl Cole really that hard to understand? Or did someone at Fox just owe Nicole a rather large favor?”

Similarly, the Chicago Tribune sniffs at the decision to replace Cole: “Scherzinger doesn’t come off as an obvious improvement in the early going. She’s more earnest like Kara DioGuardi than lovable like Jennifer Lopez”.