Simon Cowell - Simon Cowell & Cheryl Cole Are Friends Again

Cole, who worked on the British show, was hired to sit as a judge on the U.S. version last year (11), before being spectacularly replaced by host Nicole Scherzinger after she failed to make an impact with audiences and TV executives.

Cowell revealed Cole subsequently refused to speak to him or accept a lucrative deal to return to her seat on the U.K. series.

He now admits the pair made amends after she sought her revenge by hiring a plane to fly over Miami, Florida displaying his age when he turned 52 in October (11).

He tells Britain's The Sun, "That was the ice-breaker and we did speak afterwards.

"She is a grown-up and she understands that in this business when something happens it happens publicly. That wasn't a great week for me. When I came back (to Britain) last year I was public enemy number one and I wouldn't want to go through that again."