We reported yesterday that Sharon Osbourne may be making a comeback to the X Factor to replace Dannii Minogue, who is expecting her first child.

Dannii Minogue is apparently worried by this, and is even considering cutting short her maternity leave in order to come back to the show. Dannii was expecting to stay in Australia with her parents for some months after the birth, but may now change her plans.

“Dannii wanted to be close to her parents when the baby arrives – she knows they’ll love fussing over her and bonding with their grandchild,” a source told Closer magazine. “But now she’s worried it might result in her losing The X Factor as she’s due at the same time as the auditions kick off.

“She knows she would be taking on too much to give birth then go back to work within a few weeks.”

Simon Cowell has apparently not been returning Dannii’s calls, whilst holding meetings with Sharon Osbourne – fuelling speculation about Sharon’s return. Dannii and Sharon Osbourne famously argued repeatedly whilst they were judging the X Factor together, leading to Sharon Osbourne leaving the show.

There are strong rumours that Sharon Osbourne is to return to the X Factor. Osbourne would replace Dannii Minogue, who is currently expecting her first child.

“I see Simon next week. I haven’t said congratulations about his engagement yet. I don’t know what will happen. I might find out from Simon next week.” Sharon was quoted as saying in the Mirror.

Sharon Osbourne was a popular judge with the public, but left after a series of rows with Dannii Minogue. There have been rumours before about a return to the X Factor, but these are the strongest signs yet it may happen.

As well as the usual singing competition, this year’s X Factor got a whole lot more interesting with the added style war between Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole. The battle has been running all through auditions and bootcamp, but you can expect things to reach fever-pitch when we get to the live rounds!

We’ve teamed up with fashion site boohoo.com to let you get the latest styles as worn by the judges and contestants.

So to kick things off, we proudly present:

A massive X Factor Blog exclusive here, as we are proud to be the first to reveal the judges categories for 2009. The judges only learnt who they would be mentoring throughout the series yesterday evening, and we are pleased to reveal to you that the categories for 2009 are:

Dannii Minogue – Girls (16-24)
Louis Walsh – Groups
Simon Cowell – 25s and Over
Cheryl Cole – Boys (16-24)

This information hasn’t been published anywhere else yet, but we have learnt it from a very reliable source and couldn’t wait to bring this hot news to you! Remember where you heard it first!