Cheryl Cole

A whopping 12.1 million people tuned in to watch Cheryl Cole as judge on the new series of X Factor.

The Geordie hottie got straight down to business, but not everyone was impressed with her performance either.

Cheryl's tears flowed for old pal Nikk Mager when he failed to make it through to the next round. The pair first met six years ago when they were both finalists on Popstars: The Rivals. 

Cheryl won a place in Girls Aloud but Nikk wasn't chosen for boyband One True Voice.  Instead he was signed to band Phixx, which had a few hits before their split in 2006.

Simon heavily criticised Nikk's performance of Bette Midler's song The Rose, telling him: "You haven't got 'it'.  It's time to stop chasing this."

Louis added: "I don't think you have a strong enough voice."

Cheryl couldn't take any more and stepped down from the panel and came to console her pal.  She couldn't help but cry when she saw the devastation on his face.

But her appearance on the show hasn't been welcomed by everyone.  X Factor rejects Dreamtime a.k.a Nathan Mia and Lizzie Solverson were booted off the show for giving an off-key version of Mariah Carey's  "We Belong Together". 

Nathan told the Daily Star Sunday: "The other judges gave constructive criticism, but Cheryl was just horrible." He added, "What does Cheryl know? She can't even sing. They should get rid of her and bring back Sharon."