Dannii Minogue threatening to quit X Factor over Cheryl Cole?

Dannii Minogue has reportedly threatened to quit The X Factor because new fellow judge Cheryl Cole is getting more attention and airtime.

A source told the Sunday Mirror: “Cheryl has been a brilliant success. Viewers have taken to her straight away. She’s been appearing on screen much more than Dannii, who is just not having the same impact as she did last year.

“Simon thinks Cheryl looks beautiful in front of the camera, totally radiant, and that she’s been pivotal to some of the most memorable scenes of the 2008 series so far.

“It’s been unintentional, but Cheryl’s arrival and her crying at the tragic family stories of the contestants has totally upstaged Dannii.

“From the word go, Dannii’s nose was put totally out of joint by Cheryl’s arrival and its gone downhill from there.”

The Girls Aloud star was hired in June after her predecessor Sharon Osbourne quit due to a pay dispute: “When she saw off Sharon, Dannii assumed she would be the top dog but it’s very quickly turned out not to be the case.

“Simon somehow wants to keep the peace between Cheryl and Dannii and avoid the feud turning into a full-blown crisis. He wants Dannii to stay and is desperate for the show and the judges to remain as they are.

“He’s been absolutely thrilled with the impact that Cheryl has had though. It’s been nothing short of sensational. She has the perfect face for TV and is loved by the camera.

“Cheryl is very popular with the contestants too. They all recognise that once she was just like them… she was once in their shoes on Pop Stars: The Rivals which created Girls Aloud.”

However, Cheryl’s popularity isn’t quite universal: two separate polls of viewers have placed Dannii above Cheryl as their favourite judge.

Polls in New magazine and on Yahoo have seen Cheryl lose out to the one time Home and Away actress, with one source explaining: “Viewers say [Cheryl]’s too ready to burst into tears when she hears the sob stories from wannabes. That’s got very tiring very quickly.”

The live shows of the fifth series start on ITV1 next month.