Simon Cowell definitely won't be regretting his decision to add Cheryl Cole to the X Factor judgement panel -- the Girls Aloud maven helped the show recoil off with its "biggest and best" launch show ever.
The diminutive singer, 25, was drafted in to replace Sharon Osbourne afterwards she renounce earlier this year. And the fifth series of the pip show, which kicked sour on the UK's ITV Saturday, garnered a humongous 10 meg viewers -- an telling 54 pct of the total TV audience,
Cheryl joined Cowell, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue on the judging panel.
The ITV1 strike peaked at 12.1 million and even beat last year's final, when an modal 11.7 million saw Leon Jackson win the �1million ($2m) record deal, reports Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper.
Meanwhile, ITV2 spin-off Xtra Factor with new host Holly Willoughby peaked at 1.5 million.
In contrast, the BBC's National Lottery show was watched by only 3.6 million.
An X Factor insider aforesaid, "This was the biggest and c. H. Best launch the show has ever had and it should cover throughout the series."
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