THE RUMOUR: Simon Cowell is assembling The X Factor's judging dream team by poaching will.i.am from square BBC rival The Voice. The rapping Venutian will then PERSUADE his close pal Cheryl Cole to make a SENSATIONAL return to the show in 2013, two years after she was FIRED from the American version of The X Factor. Presumably Cole, who was replaced by Nicole Scherzinger on The X Factor USA and reportedly calls her "crazy" in her new book, would take revenge by kicking Scherzinger off the British version.

QUOTE FROM A "SOURCE" WHO PROBABLY DOESN'T EXIST: "We need to do something dramatic and this would be a coup. It would give us the best judging line-up in X Factor history. Will would be the best person on the planet to persuade Cheryl that one last hurrah could be fun. Though we realise it would be expensive." (Daily Mirror)

RADIOTIMES.COM TRUTH RATING: 4/5. It makes sense, since Cole has never been satisfactorily replaced, and poaching will.i.am would severely wound The Voice, if indeed that's not already been cancelled by this time next year. Cole could come in for Scherzinger and will.i.am could replace Gary Barlow, or even the increasingly unpredictable Louis Walsh.