Cheryl IS coming back to The X Factor, says Dermot O’Leary

X Factor host Dermot O’Leary has reportedly ‘confirmed’ Cheryl’s return to the show.

Although nothing has been officially announced yet by ITV, Dermot says Cheryl WILL be back.

“Cheryl’s going to come back,” he’s quoted as saying by the Metro newspaper.

What Cheryl’s potential return means for the rest of the panel isn’t yet clear.

It’s likely The X Factor judges for 2018 won’t be confirmed for many months yet, so expect plenty more speculation.

But last month it was suggested that Cheryl could become a ‘fifth judge’ on the show.

Show boss Simon Cowell teased a potential mega line up for what will be the 15th series.

“Nothing’s a done deal and I do like this panel. But the good news is that now more people want to do the show than before,” Simon said of last year’s line up. “Is Cheryl keen to come back? She is, yes — I guess she is.”

Simon told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: “In the past I’ve had to beg ­people to do the show, and it wasn’t always that easy. People would do it for a ­season, and say, ‘Right, I’m not coming back.’

“But now it’s easier to do the show, it’s much more fun. Maybe I’ll have five people on the panel.”

Cheryl first joined the show in 2008 before leaving in 2011 for the American version. The new mum then returned in 2014 before departing again in 2015.

Meanwhile, Dermot has said that he thinks The X Factor can still run for 10 more years despite falling viewer figures.

“Does it hurt? Um, I’d love to get back up to eight million again,” he told the Radio Times magazine of the show’s ratings. “You want to rate well, of course you do.”

Dermot continued: “As long as the talent keeps coming, yeah. And the talent keeps showing up.

“When I first started people would turn up and say, ‘tell me who you want me to be’.

“Now you get people going, ‘Here’s my first album, here’s my YouTube channel’, and the show’s become a facilitator for that, and that’s a good thing.”

The X Factor will return to ITV later this year.