Simon Cowell better watch his back! Cheryl Cole announced on Instagram Monday, March 10 that she will be returning as a judge on the 11th season of the X Factor UK.
The 30-year-old singer shared a picture of herself jokingly trying to strangle fellow judge Cowell. "GUESS WHAT!! . . . I'm baaaacccckkkkk!!!!" Cole captioned the snapshot. "#iMayActuallyRingHisNexk #XFactor2014 #leggooo."
Cowell, 54, also shared the news on Twitter, writing, "It's official. Cheryl is back. Be careful what you wish for! Most importantly she is a brilliant judge of talent."
Cole famously left X Factor UK after two years to appear as a judge on the U.S. version in 2011, but was pulled from the show and replaced by Nicole Scherzinger. "X factor was a great experience and time in my life and career but is now part of my past," she tweeted at the time. "Please #letsmoveonnow #newnewspls Zzzzz *yawns."
Cowell at first attributed Cowell's departure from the show due to homesickness, but later changed his tune. "After two cities, I offered [Cheryl] the job, which initially she accepted. And then unfortunately when it went public, the negotiations fell apart, so I though she would be more comfortable doing the U.K. show than the American show," Cowell explained to Radar Online in August 2011. "For certain reasons, [she] decided not to [come back to the U.K.] And that's why it ended up the way it is."
The U.S. version of X Factor was canceled by Fox after three seasons on Feb. 7.