CONFIRMED! Cheryl returns to The X Factor for judges’ houses

Cheryl will make a guest appearance on The X Factor 2017 at judges’ houses, it’s been confirmed.

The Fight For This Love hitmaker, who recently ruled out a full time return to the show, will join Simon Cowell to help pick his finalists.

Simon and new mum Cheryl are currently in Nice, south of France, with Simon’s potential finalists.

A source said last month: “Simon is ecstatic at getting Cheryl back working with him again.”

“They’ve had their ups and downs to say the least but he hugely respects her opinion,” the insider told the Daily Mail. “He has been working on it for a while. He and Cheryl have been talking a lot over the last months…

“For Cheryl, this felt like the right way for her to make a return to the limelight after having Bear.

“She has the tough task of picking Simon’s final acts so the pressure is on and he is very much looking forward to the banter.”

Simon previously dismissed the idea that Cheryl had been offered £500,000 to appear, saying: “that’s more than I would earn”.

But he revealed they were in touch, explaining: “She got my number a couple of weeks ago, sent me a text, typical Cheryl, ‘How are you, miss you, love to talk to you’.

“I sent back a note, ‘Love to talk to you, let’s catch up’. Not a word back.

“But that doesn’t mean we’ve fallen out, it’s just our relationship.”

The X Factor judges’ houses stages will air later this month on ITV.

It’s understood Sharon Osbourne went to San Francisco, Nicole Scherzinger visited South Africa with Stormzy and Louis Walsh went to Turkey with Mika.

For now, The X Factor continues Saturday and Sunday night with bootcamp and the six chair challenge.