Paula Abdul is the latest in a sensational triple axing on the 'X Factor' in America as, despite a fairly well received debut season of the show, boss Simon Cowell seeks to shake things up in light of what he's perceived to be an opening run that was poorer than planned. Abdul joins fellow judge and PUSSYCAT DOLL NICOLE SCHERZINGER and Welsh host Steve Jones on the scrap heap, which at this point leaves just Cowell and La Reid as judges on the show.

 

For Welshman Jones it was always likely that he might be forced out, the 34 year-old not finding favour with the American audiences and receiving a reaction similar to that that of the also regionally accented Cheryl Cole during her brief tenure on the program. If Scherzinger's firing comes as a bit of a surprise though, then the decision to remove Abdul - a close friend of Cowell's - is a shocking one indeed. 

 

It's an interesting move by Cowell, who has also suffered from troubles at home in the UK, with the original 'X Factor' finding its normally insurmountable position in the TV ratings there seriously threatened by a resurgence from bitter rival 'Strictly Come Dancing,' which airs on BBC.