Cheryl Fernandez-Versini

Cheryl Cole

Cheryl Ann Cole, née Tweedy, (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and member of the girl group Girls Aloud. She is married to the Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole.

Early career

She was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Throughout her childhood she performed in a large number of modelling and fashion shows. She entered ballroom competitions, sang, acted and won a ballet competition.

She won the following competitions as a child: Boots bonniest baby, Mothercare Happy Faces Portrait competition, Best Looking Girl of Newcastle, The Evening Chronicle 'Little Miss & Mister' and Most Attractive Girl at the MetroCentre.

She appeared in two British Gas adverts, an SCS advert, and an Eldon Square Christmas advert with younger brother Garry. In addition to Garry, Cheryl has another two brothers and a sister.

Girls Aloud

She was working as a waitress when she entered the UK talent-search show Popstars The Rivals. In the final show she received the most votes in the poll to choose the girls for the all-female group Girls Aloud, and was thus the first to be picked for the group.

Media attention

Sometimes referred to in the press as "Chezza", she has gained celebrity status through her role in Girls Aloud and her good looks, coming second in the FHM 100 Sexiest Women poll in 2005, beating Britney Spears and her bandmates Sarah Harding and Nadine Coyle, and finishing behind Kelly Brook. In 2006, she finished sixth, while in January of the same year she topped a 'wish-list' poll run by Sun Online to identify the female celebrities that readers would most like to appear topless on the newspaper's Page 3. In July 2006 Cheryl signed a deal worth a reported £200,000 to become the face of Coca-Cola Zero for its UK launch. English singer Lily Allen has a song titled "Cheryl Tweedy", in which Allen states she wishes she looked like Cheryl Tweedy, which Allen has later claimed to be ironic and should be seen as more of an insult as opposed to a compliment.

Consequently, her cachet in the tabloids has been huge. For example, during a recording at Top of the Pops, Mike Skinner of The Streets dedicated his song "When You Wasn't Famous" to Cheryl, leading to much media speculation and many believing the song was about her. Skinner later corrected everyone by saying that he only dedicated the song to her because Girls Aloud were at the same taping of TOTP.

Cheryl co-presented the August 25, 2006 episode of The Friday Night Project along with Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding, where she did impressions of Sharon Osbourne and Big Brother 7 winner Pete Bennett.

During the Germany 2006 World Cup where Cheryl was supporting fiancé Ashley Cole, she was continuously photographed with the wives and girlfriends of other England football stars, and a media frenzy occurred over their partying and shopping sprees. The British media deemed them the "WAGS" (wives and girlfriends), and criticized their antics. Cheryl later said the other "WAGS" lived off their partners' money, and did no work themselves, whereas she had had a career with Girls Aloud before meeting Ashley, and did not "borrow his plastic" when she went shopping. She spared Victoria Beckham, stating that she's "witty" and "ambitious" and that they have a lot in common, particularly their careers in girl bands. .

Cheryl appeared on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice in 2007 to raise money for Comic Relief.

According to press reports, in March 2007 Cole turned down a six figure sum offer to join the fourth series of The X Factor as a judge.

Ashley Cole

Even before marrying Ashley Cole, Cheryl won the title of "Sexiest Footballer's Wife" in FHM's 2006 Bloke Awards , and as Cole's fiancée she was a prominent "WAG" (acronym for "wives and girlfriends") during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

She and Cole were married at Wrotham Park, just north of Barnet, Hertfordshire on 15 July 2006 - although they were to marry at Highclere Castle, Berkshire (according to a guard at the premises). When the two changed their plans, Tweedy and Cole had asked the staff there to lie to the press and not to disclose the fact they weren't actually getting married there.

Cheryl had a dress designed by Roberto Cavalli, reportedly worth £110,000 (€145,000), flown to England.The wedding was paid for by OK! Magazine, with whom the couple signed a £1 million deal to publish pictures of the wedding.

Pregnancy Rumours

In March 2007 rumours circulated many tabloids and internet sites that the Coles were expecting their first child. These rumours were denied by both Cheryl and Ashley, despite close friends claiming Cheryl was pregnant.