CHERYL COLE is having a tough time after reportedly being fired as a judge on the US version of X Factor– some reports claim it was because American test audiences couldn't understand her accent. What looked to be her hugely publicised big international break is over.

But she can take consolation from those who’ve been through it all before and have gone on to bigger and better things:

Top Celebrity Sacking Success Stories

Cheryl's bandmate Nadine Coyle was about to sign up for membership of the Irish pop group Six, in the RTÉ reality TV series Popstarsuntil she fluffed a question about her date of birth and was fired for being too young. Luckily, a band that would dwarf Six's success, Girls Aloud, was just around the corner.

In 1981, Michael Bloomberg was fired (with a $10 million pay off) from investment firm Salomon Brothers. He used his severance pay to set up Innovative Market Systems, later christened Bloomberg LP – and is now worth up to €20 billion.

Lisa Kudrow was signed up as the character Roz in Frasier, possessing the quirkiness and comic timing that the producers were after. As Roz's character developed into a tougher lady before filming started, Kudrow didn't cut it, and replacement Peri Gilpin was drafted in. Soon after, Kudrow won the role of Phoebe in Friends.

John Sculley was fresh from conceiving the ‘Pepsi Challenge’ at the cola company when Apple computers hired him as their new chief executive. In 1985, he fired Steve Jobs from all management roles. Less than 10 years later, after a string of bad product management decisions, Sculley got the boot and replaced by Jobs after Apple bought NeXT, the computer company he had created.

In 2004, the editor of the Daily Mirror,Piers Morgan was disgraced after being fired for printing fake photographs of British soldiers mistreating Iraqi prisoners. He retreated to television talent shows (America's Got Talent and its British counterpart) and this year, replaced Larry King on CNN.