‘X Factor’ judge Cheryl Fernandez-Versini is believed to be considering legal action in response to a fake sex tape that’s appeared online featuring her name and likeness. The X-rated video, featuring her head superimposed onto the body of an adult entertainer, has racked up over a million views.

It is believed that efforts are under way to get the video, entitled ‘Cheryl Cole Fake Sex Video’, taken down from the free-to-use website Pornhub. But, with such exposure already, 32 year old Cheryl fears that it has done serious damage to her family-friendly image as some fans may believe that the footage is genuine.

Cheryl Fernandez-VersiniCheryl Fernandez-Versini at 'The X Factor' press launch on Wednesday night (Aug 26th)

“She hates the fact that the porn site is using her name to drag punters in to watch their lurid videos and make money from her fame,” a source close to Cheryl told the Daily Star on Saturday night (August 29th). “It is embarrassing for her to be linked to this kind of video because she works very hard to cultivate her image.”

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To make matters worse, there’s also another, similar video doing the rounds featuring a Cheryl lookalike, which has had almost 800,000 views.

An official spokesperson for Fernandez-Versini stated last night simply: “Our lawyers are looking into this.” However, her management is reportedly concerned that the videos may take months to get taken down, if indeed such action is possible at all.

This comes as Fernandez-Versini and her fellow judges – Simon Cowell and newbies Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw – made their return to ‘The X Factor’ on ITV on Saturday night for its twelfth season.

She has been made an executive producer this time around, and has taken advantage of her new position by pushing for a couple of format changes. Fans will get to decide, via social media, which categories that each judge will mentor, while the judges’ houses round will be broadcast live this time.

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