Cheryl reveals she is happier than ever after learning to be less apologetic
As speculation about that 'pregnancy' reaches fever pitch, we sit down with Cheryl to talk perfume, while desperately hoping to get to the bottom of the rumours
SITTING in a swanky London hotel suite, a glowing Cheryl is talking about happiness.
“I am happier than I’ve ever been before,” she says. “Now is a very good time in my life.” There is a pause. We’d like to say it’s a pregnant pause, except we’re not allowed to.
We’re here today to talk about Cheryl’s , and the rules are that there must be no mention of the pregnancy rumours endlessly swirling around the 33-year-old singer, nor anything about her relationship with 23-year-old One Direction star Liam Payne.
But we have met Cheryl many times – this is her fourth Fabulous cover – and it’s pretty clear to us that she’s loved-up.
Cheryl nods as she says: “I know you can tell exactly what is going on with me. My eyes give everything away. I can’t ever hide my emotions, and it’s great that you can see I’m really happy.”
She is looking good. The last time we met was almost a year ago at a music industry party for her friend and X Factor boss Simon Cowell (he claims credit for introducing her to Liam), and she appeared painfully thin and stressed.
Today, dressed in a stunning teal jumpsuit, her dark hair long, glossy and straight, Cheryl looks incredible.
There is no definitive sign of a “bump” (she is wearing a loose tasselled belt around her waist), but her boobs seem bigger and her lips are fuller than ever without any sign of surgery (FYI, during her own pregnancies, Kim Kardashian West commented on her “huge boobs” and “pregnancy lips”).
It is only a week after her divorce from French restaurant entrepreneur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini – whom she married in Mustique in 2014 after a whirlwind romance – finally came through.
Just 24 hours on from our interview, photos emerged of her looking distinctly more rounded, and her close friend Kimberley Walsh – who is pregnant with her second child – appeared to let the cat out of the bag by confirming Cheryl would make a “brilliant mum”, before claiming she didn’t want to talk about it.
It’s all very mysterious – but given the endless speculation dating back to her first marriage about whether she wants children, when she wants them and whether she is in fact pregnant at any given moment in time, it’s perhaps understandable that Cheryl doesn’t want to give too much away.
“The good thing about being in your 30s is that you know yourself better,” she says. “I learned to be less apologetic and not to give a s**t about what people say. I think you just focus on what is right for you and you learn to trust your own instincts and follow them.”
Just to be sure she doesn’t give too much away, her publicist and the perfume’s press chief are both here to check that no cheeky questions are asked, but Cheryl is on top form – and can’t help dropping a few hints about being super-healthy and spending cosy evenings at home.
“I’m in the kitchen loads these days,” she grins. “I went out for dinner with Jamie Oliver and I was completely inspired. I’m following all his recipes, although I’m having a hard time getting everything right.”
The smiley Cheryl of today is a far cry from her appearance last year.
During her stint on The X Factor in 2015, she seemed withdrawn and worryingly thin as her 18-month marriage to JB imploded amid rumours of his controlling behaviour.
It was Cheryl’s second disastrous marriage – her first, in 2006, to footballer Ashley Cole ended after four years when he allegedly cheated on her with multiple women – but now, at last, Cheryl looks genuinely relaxed and content.
She says she has learned a lot in the last few years. “I’ve been through difficult stages and you never know what’s going to hit you in life. You just don’t have a clue. But I’d tell myself: ‘You will get through things.’ You do. You just get through it and you keep going.”
Cheryl began dating Liam last December, four months after her marriage is thought to have broken down. Love apparently blossomed on the set of The X Factor, where she was pictured embracing Liam during the final after One Direction’s last performance together.
They finally confirmed their relationship in February after being spotted shopping together at a Tesco in Guildford by posting a selfie of them cosied up together.
Now, to mark the launch of StormFlower Platinum (her fourth fragrance), Cheryl has agreed to reveal the beauty and style secrets she’s learned since shooting to fame with Girls Aloud aged just 19.
Fourteen years later, Cheryl Ann Tweedy, from a “tough” council estate and broken home in Newcastle, is worth a cool £20million.
She’s had nine No.1s, fronted one of the biggest television shows in the UK, appeared on the cover of UK Vogue twice, landed several campaigns with L’Oréal Paris, and overcome that assault conviction to become a bona fide national sweetheart.
“It’s been some journey,” she says. “I often do look at pictures of myself when I was younger because my life could have turned out so differently. I could still be in Newcastle. I just look at that girl and think: ‘You have no idea what is going to happen to you.’ It’s a really weird feeling.”
In real life, Cheryl is a very different person from the perfectly groomed, immaculately turned-out creature who smiled serenely from the X Factor judging panel.
In the flesh she looks just as incredible, but is also warm, friendly and extremely down to earth. So it doesn’t come as any surprise that she admits she gets the greatest pleasure from the simplest things in life.
“The moments I always treasure are when I’m just playing with my nephews and nieces or having a laugh with my mates,” she says.
Three years ago, a couple of years after she fell out with Simon Cowell when he unceremoniously sacked her from the US X Factor, she took time out and made a list of everything she wanted to do.
At the top of the list were things like “going to my dad’s favourite chippie” in Newcastle and “spending days at home with my friends”.
“People always think of me as being dressed up all the time, but that so isn’t me,” she says. “I love spending time on long walks outdoors and just being surrounded by nature, miles away from everything.”
It’s no surprise, then, that the idea of being a sex symbol makes her cringe.
“I never rate myself out of 10,” she says, screwing up her nose. “I think all women change with how they feel about themselves. I’m not as hung up on my looks as people imagine. I never look in the mirror and think I’m sexy. But I feel my best when I’m happy and healthy.
“I’m only ever photographed when I’m all dressed up, but a more usual version of me is bed-head hair and old PJs. I’ll happily answer my door like that. Maybe that’s not such a good thing. I think I often give people a fright!”
As if – even dressed in her jammies, Cheryl could still stop traffic. Her beauty regime, however, is refreshingly low-key.
“Drink water, take vitamins if you need them, exercise, sleep and take your make-up off at night – however tired you are. It’s so important to keep your skin clean,” she says.
“When I was in Girls Aloud, we’d be exhausted all the time because we were constantly touring and performing. But I always took my make-up off. I remember once falling asleep in the bath, I was so tired. But at least I was clean when I woke up!
“My budget beauty must-haves are E45 cream and Sudocrem, which works for breakouts and sunburn. Sudocrem is absolutely brilliant. I never go anywhere without it.”
As for plastic surgery, Cheryl’s not going to rule it out.
“Ask me when I’m in my 40s,” she laughs. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, if that’s what you want. I think women should do what they want to do. I love Madonna. I love the way she wears what she wants. I’d like to think if I’m 60 and I want to break out a leotard, I still would!”
She’s equally unapologetic when it comes to her controversial tattoos (including that bum inking), saying they’re all part of her beauty philosophy.
“Tattoos tell a story. I love to see a beautiful girl with a sleeve of tattoos. It makes me wonder about her life and why she’s put those pictures on her body. They can be mysterious or just incredible to look at.
"My favourite tattoo is the first I ever had, the symbol I had designed for my hand. I get so many compliments on it and I love looking at it. I never regret my tattoos.”
Just before we leave, we talk about her new scent, and she grins as she says: “For the first time, I have guys telling me they’re going to wear it.”
We wonder who, but Cheryl’s lips are sealed. Instead, she flashes another of those enigmatic, megawatt smiles. Whatever’s up, it’s something good.
StormFlower Platinum by Cheryl, from £23.95 for 30ml EDP, is .
