Cheryl Cole

Cheryl Cole (born Cheryl Tweedy, 30.6.1983)

Cheryl Cole is a British pop star. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud and was married to the England footballer Ashley Cole from July 2006 to September 2010 .

Cheryl Cole: Childhood

Cheryl Cole was born and raised in the Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne. She has one brother, two half-brothers and a half-sister.

Cheryl Cole took up dancing as a child and also won a number of modelling contests. Among other contests, she won the Boots Group's Bonniest Baby contest, the Mothercare Happy Faces Portrait contest and The Evening Chronicle's 'Little Miss and Mister' and the 'Most Attractive Girl' at the Metro Centre. Cole also appeared in two British Gas adverts as well as an Eldon Square Christmas advert (which her younger brother Garry also appeared in).

When she was nine years old, Cheryl Cole attended the Royal Ballet summer school.

Cheryl Cole: Pop Music Career

In 2002, Cheryl Cole auditioned for the 2002 series of Popstars The Rivals. She sang 'Have You Ever?' by S Club 7 and became the first contestant to be chosen for the group Girls Aloud. Despite not winning the series, Girls Aloud went on to become one of Britain's most successful pop groups of the early 21st century. The other members of the group are Kimberley Walsh, Sarah Harding, Nadine Coyle, and Nicola Roberts.

Whilst filming Passions of Girls Aloud, Cheryl Cole took street-dancing lessons. She was soon chosen to appear in a music video for 'Heartbreaker', the solo single for Will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas. She was also asked to sing backing vocals on the track. The track reached number four on the UK singles chart.

Following the success of Girls Aloud, Cheryl Cole announced in April 2009 that she intends to launch a solo career and that she would release a solo album before Girls Aloud's next album, scheduled for 2010. It was also announced that Taio Cruz would be writing a song for the album.

Cheryl Cole: TV Personality

In 2008, Cheryl Cole was chosen to replace Sharon Osbourne as a judge of X Factor. Cole won the first series. She was given the Girls category and Alexandra Burke won the series, in that category. Cole was also selected to return in the sixth series of the show. She joined Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh on the judging panel.

Cheryl Cole: Personal Life

In January 2003, not long after Girls Aloud had shot to national recognition, Cheryl Cole was arrested following an incident with a toilet attendant at Guildford's 'The Drink' nightclub (now known as 'Harpers'). Cole was charged with racially aggravated assault but, at trial, was only found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. She was sentenced to 120 hours of community service and was also required to pay the victim, Sophie Amogbokpa £500.

Cheryl Cole married the footballer Ashley Cole in London on July 2006. Media reports of Ashley Cole's infidelity have hampered their marriage and for some time, Cheryl Cole refused to wear her wedding ring.

Lily Allen released a song entitled 'Cheryl Tweedy' as the B-side to her 'Smile' single.

In FHM's 2009 'Sexiest Women' poll, Cheryl Cole was ranked at number one. She also appeared on the cover of Vogue in Britain. The circulation of that February 2009 issue was 240,000 - the best ever sales figure for the magazine in February.