Cheryl, 31, returned to the ITV singing competition as a judge for the new series, alongside Simon, 55, Rita Ora and Nick Grimshaw.
But, while she’s still clashing with her boss, Cheryl said the shock death of his mother Julie brought them closer together.
Speaking to The Sun, she said: “Me and Simon are still rowing. He knows which buttons to press. Sometimes I want to move away from him but he won’t let us change seats.
“He just really wants to wind me up to get a response. I’ve got to work on not retaliating.”
Julie died at the beginning of last month, and Cheryl confessed she’s been a bit softer towards Simon since.
She continued: “It has been a bit of a different circumstance this last few weeks, unfortunately, so it’s been more banter than bickering.
“Can I be honest with you? I love him dearly. I do.”
Someone else Cheryl loves is her new bestie Rita, 24. The singer joined the panel this year as a replacement for Mel B, who was axed after one series.
Cheryl said: “Rita’s got a really unique way of mixing her metaphors. She says things like, ‘I feel like a fish out of water that just got run over by a bus’.”
And Rita recently joked that she and Cheryl have been ganging up on Simon during auditions – something we can’t wait to see when the show hits our screens next month!