Is X Factor judge Tulisa becoming Cheryl Cole?

Let’s look at the facts.

As we know, Cheryl rose to fame as part of a music group, Girls Aloud. So did Tulisa. In her case, it was N-Dubz. Nothing strange there (except the name).

But how about this: in 2010 Cheryl was hospitalised by high-profile illness malaria, following a visit to well-known foreign country Tanzania.

Not long before that, Tulisa had also been confined to a hospital bed after contracting headline-grabbing disease swine flu. Where was she when she collapsed? That’s right, abroad (in this case, Greece). Curiouser and curiouser…

In 2008 Cheryl Cole was made a judge on The X Factor. In 2011, Tulisa got the call-up.

OK. Fine. But listen: the year Cheryl started, she was voted the world’s seventhsexiest woman in FHM’s annual poll. This year, Tulisa came 15th in the same poll. Sure, she’s a little off Cheryl’s pace here, but the parallel remains striking.

At this point, you’re no doubt arming yourself with magic crystals and lucky amulets, and preparing to sacrifice a goat to your favoured deity. But brace yourselves, because it may not end there. Indications are that the trend is set to continue.

Earlier this week, N-Dubz rapper Dappy admitted the group is not long for this world.

“The band is definitely going to quiet down for the next year-and-a-half to two years,” he told The Mirror.

“At the end of that period, we will do a Greatest Hits or Best of N-Dubz. Then that’ll be it: finished.”

So what does that mean for his cousin, Tulisa? Could a solo career be next on the agenda, as it was for Cheryl?

Ever wondered why Contostavlos is credited simply as Tulisa in the X Factor credits? Well, if she did go solo, that would surely be her moniker of choice – so could she be preparing us for an announcement?

Dig a bit further and the conclusion becomes inescapable. You see, rumour has it that Tulisa went back on an agreement with Dappy and Fazer of N-Dubz to use slots on The X Factor to promote the band – and that she instead intends to showcase her own solo material on the show.

As an X Factor judge, Cheryl used the series to pimp her singles in much the same way.

But if Tulisa does follow Cheryl into a solo career, what next? Insiders are hinting she may use her relationship with fellow judge Kelly Rowland to take her career stateside - just like Cheryl.

Could it be true? Could Tulisa be destined to launch a failed attempt to break America? Or can the pupil surpass the master? Can Tulisa out-Cheryl Cheryl and crack the US? Only the fates can tell…