Cheryl Cole has been replaced as a judge on the new US version of The X Factor, it has been claimed.

The 27-year-old singer's place on the show - which debuts in September - is likely to be taken by ex-Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, according to reports.

Celebrity website TMZ reported that Cole was primarily dropped from the judging panel because producers feared the American audience would not understand her Geordie accent.

There were also concerns that the former Girls Aloud star had a "lack of chemistry" with fellow X Factor judge Paula Abdul, the website said.

But The Sun reported that Cole was quitting the programme because she was missing friends and family in Britain.

A source on the show told the paper: "It hasn't worked out. She's homesick and wants to return to the UK. She's had enough. Whether she ends up back on UK X Factor is open to speculation."

Representatives of Cole and the US X Factor's production team were not immediately available for comment.

Cole was announced as a judge on the American edition of the singing talent show earlier this month after heated speculation about whether she could make it on the other side of the Atlantic.

Days after her new role was revealed, Cole admitted she had "stepped out of her comfort zone" to do the show in America but insisted that her strong accent would be no problem for US audiences.

X Factor boss Simon Cowell joked at the time that Cole could mime to someone else's voice to get round any accent problems. "We could do it like Singing In The Rain - just have someone behind a wall just talking and she's got to lip-sync the whole show," he said.