‘The X Factor’ UK: Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger, full judging panel confirmed

Well, this went down as everyone suspected it would, but we’re pretty happy with it. Despite the British tabloids’ attempts to turn Nicole Scherzinger’s long-expected return to “The X Factor” UK into some sort of three-ring circus, the news of her continued presence on the judging panel is now official.

Scherzinger joins Gary Barlow and Louis Walsh as the returning judges to the show, and there is one major change: Tulisa Contostavlos is out after two seasons (which is somewhat surprising still to us given that she helped guide Little Mix to the championship in 2011), and Sharon Osbourne is back in after several years away from the show. We haven’t’ seen Sharon on the show since last summer, when she advised Louis Walsh and helped to set up her team.

Back when the Sharon rumors first came up, we were honestly skeptical given that she already has a job on “The Talk,” and trying to do both jobs feels a little unwieldy. Yes, she did balance the show with “America’s Got Talent” at one point, but it was a little easier since there was no cross-country travel that had to take place.

However, Sharon says that she does plan to continue doing both gigs, and she will travel to and from London. This does mean that she will have to do much of her mentoring from a distance for the season, but this is a woman with so deep a contact list that she should be able to have plenty of help.

Are you glad to see Sharon back? In case you did not hear confirmation about the “X Factor” USA panel for the new season, all you have to do is check out the story over at the link here.

Photo: ITV