Nicole Scherzinger wants a cut of One Direction's multi-million dollar earnings because she put the boyband band together on Britain's The X Factor.

The former Pussycat Dolls star was a stand-in judge on the singing contest in 2010 when five boys - Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson - auditioned as solo singers.

Scherzinger suggested the contestants had potential if grouped together in a band, and although they only finished in third place on the talent show, One Direction went on to find global fame and amass an army of loyal fans.

Now Scherzinger wants a piece of their earnings because it was her idea to put the youngsters together.

She tells British magazine Fabulous, "Simon Cowell forgets that too, or he's trying to forget that. I think they said the footage of me suggesting it mysteriously disappeared!

"I just thought: 'Wow, these boys!' None of them were strong enough to make it through, but they'd make a killer group. All the girls are going to want to see these guys in a band together. And look at what they've done. I'm just really sad that I don't have a piece of it!"