Cheryl Cole will not return to 'X Factor', says will.i.am

Cheryl Cole will not return to Simon Cowell's X Factor this year, according to her US manager will.i.am.

The Black Eyed Peas rapper believes that the former talent show judge, who quit the UK version last year, will eventually front her own format.

"Cheryl won't do X Factor," he told The Mirror. "Why does she need it? Why are you going to make someone else rich? Cheryl needs her own show."

Bemoaning her controversial axe from The X Factor USA, will.i.am said: "Cheryl Cole was current on X Factor. She was the only one on the panel with musical experience of what it feels like to go through that process.















"That's how she made it into the industry, by doing Popstars. Paula Abdul (a fellow judge) was an artist – but she wasn't current at the time."

Simon Cowell was quoted as saying earlier this week that Cole "misses" The X Factor and can "100%" rejoin the panel later this year.

Meanwhile, will.i.am revealed that he is planning a solo comeback for the 'Fight For This Love' singer, who released 3 Words in 2009 and Messy Little Raindrops in 2010.

"Cheryl's the best," he added. "I was just hanging out with her on Tuesday, listening to her new stuff and getting her feedback on things and she has some really great tunes.

"The Cheryl that we know now is different from the one we're going to know ten years from now. It was ten years ago that me and the Black Eyes Peas wrote 'Where is The Love?'

"I'm planning a future for Cheryl in that way. Madonna is Madonna. You don't want Cheryl to be Madonna, you want Cheryl to be Cheryl."