Nicole Scherzinger has a long, lean leg up on the competition to land in a judge's chair next fall when Simon Cowell launches X Factor in the U.S., Breaking Celebrity News has learned.

The Pussycat Doll-turned-Dancing with the Stars champion is filling in for pregnant Dannii Minogue when the original UK version of X Factor tapes an audition episode next week.

In many ways it is an audition for her too, a source says. If Scherzinger does well, she'll have an "inside track" for the permanent job in the U.S. come September, 2011.