Description

Cheryl Ann Fernandez-Versini[2] (née Tweedy,formerly Cole; born 30 June 1983) is an English recording artist,dancer, and television personality who is known by the mononymCheryl[3] in the context of her recording promotions. She rose tofame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality televisionshow Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Colehad won a place as a member of the girl group Girls Aloud.[4] Thegroup's line-up remained the same throughout their history andduring that time the group achieved a string of twenty consecutivetop ten singles in the United Kingdom (including four number onesingles) and six platinum albums (two of which went to number one)and earned five BRIT Award nominations from 2005 to 2010. In 2009,Girls Aloud won "Best Single" with their song "The Promise". Inearly 2013, Girls Aloud announced that they had split up.

Cole embarked on a solo career and released her first solostudio album 3 Words (2009), the album became a commercial successand spawned three successful singles including the lead single fromthe album, "Fight for This Love," which debuted at number one onthe UK charts, becoming the best selling single of the year. 2010saw the release of Cole's second studio album Messy LittleRaindrops, which produced two singles, the first being "PromiseThis" which also debuted at number one. Cole released her thirdsolo album A Million Lights on 18 June 2012, with lead single "CallMy Name" becoming her third number one single.[5] Only Human wasreleased in 2014 and spawned two singles "Crazy Stupid Love" and "IDon't Care". Both singles went to number one in the UK and madeCole the only British female to have five number ones in theUK.[6]

Cole has become a recognised and photographed styleicon;[7][8][9] referred to as a fashionista by the press.[10] Shehas been photographed for the covers of British Vogue,[9] Elle andHarper's Bazaar, while becoming the new face of cosmetic companyL'Oréal.[11] Cole was married to England footballer Ashley Colefrom July 2006[12] until September 2010, when she divorced himfollowing the announcement of their separation earlier thatyear.[13][14] Cole became a judge on the UK version of The X Factorin 2008,[15][16] becoming the winning judge twice out of the threeseries she judged. In 2011, Cole left the UK version of The XFactor to judge the American version. However, Cole left the showduring the auditions stage, fueling rumours that she had beensacked.[17][18][19] Cole's net worth was estimated at £20 millionin October 2014.[1] On 10 March 2014, it was announced that Colewould return as a judge on the U.K. version of The X Factor for itseleventh series, signing a £1.5 million contract.[20][21]