Description: On June 10, 2008, it was announced Cole would replace Sharon Osbourne as a judge for the fifth series of The X Factor.
A week before the 2008 series, in a 9 August 2008 interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, Cole's fellow judge Dannii Minogue said she believed Cole could bring a new side to the talent show: "One week Cheryl was talking about urban music and telling Simon Cowell 'This is what the show needs; this is where you've been going wrong'." Cole was given the Girls category, subsequently ending up as the winning judge, with Alexandra Burke winning the show on 13 December 2008.