There is a lot of news and speculation surrounding Nicole Scherzinger today.

Firstly, it has been confirmed that the brunette beauty will be rejoining the X Factor UK panel when the auditions hit Newcastle next Monday.

The Pussycat Dolls star stepped into the breach earlier this month, when tryouts for the ITV series were taking place in London, as a follow up to her guest judge stint on the show back in 2010.

She will join Gary Barlow, Tulisa and Louis Walsh once more when they head to Geordie-ville next week and fill the spot that was vacated by Kelly Rowland a few months ago.

However, it has been reported that Nicole’s role on the X Factor could become a whole lot more permanent, as insiders say bosses are getting increasingly desperate to find a full time judge before bootcamp starts next month and have offered her £500,000 to take the job.

A source told Life&Style that she has provisionally accepted the offer and one supposed friend of the singer reported:

“She’s accepted the offer and she’s going to be in the U.K. for about four months.”

Scherzinger certainly had the experience, but one would have to wonder why Simon Cowell would let her take a seat on the panel of his UK show, when he recently sacked her from the US version, because American fans found her too boring.

We hope he doesn’t do the dirty on her again, as another ITV insider has reportedly told The Sun that although negotiations are taking place with Nicole, Anastacia impressed executives when she joined the panel in Glasgow this week and may now steal the job.

“Everything is in place to sign Nicole but Anastacia was incredible,” a source told the newspaper. “She had such great chemistry with the others.

“Nicole has been good in the past but she hasn’t worked with anyone on this panel before except Louis, so who knows how she will do?”

The insider added: “Nothing is certain on The X Factor — things change down to the wire.”

Who do you think would make the better judge? Leave your comments below…