Cheryl Cole: Her Story - the Unauthorized Biography (15 page)

Cheryl laughed off the worries about their weight, saying, ‘All these magazines say we’re too big one minute and too thin the next. What are our fans supposed to think? I think these magazines are irresponsible to go on about people’s weight so much.’

Cheryl also had a bee in her bonnet about press speculation that she had had a breast augmentation. Rumours had been circulating since she had worn a particularly tight-fitting dress earlier in the year – and Cheryl wasn’t happy about it.

‘I’m furious about these rumours,’ Cheryl told the
Mirror.
‘My dad called me and said he’d seen my picture on a show about celebrities and plastic surgery in which they compared me to Jordan and Jodie Marsh. I’ve never had my boobs done. It’s so upsetting. It’s not my fault they’re pert … I’m sure in years to come, after I’ve had kids, they’ll be down by my knees, so I’ll probably need some help then. But at the moment they’re all my own. See, no scars in my armpits nor on my boobs.’

Meanwhile, with money pouring in, Cheryl revealed she wanted to open a tanning salon, and was reported in the
Sun
and
Daily Star
as saying, ‘I’ve paid off my mum’s mortgage but I really want to buy a tanning salon. It will be a great little family business and we will call it Tweedy’s Tanning.’

Unfortunately, before she could set about putting her plan into action, Cheryl was distracted by an offer to present Saturday morning music show
CD:UK
with Dave Berry. Cheryl had never really considered presenting before, since
singing was her first love. She was a little apprehensive, but, always one to take on a new challenge, she threw herself into it wholeheartedly.

However, when she was standing on stage next to Dave, she began to wish she’d never agreed to do it. Reading an autocue and making sure she finished in time to cut to an act or video was confusing, especially with producers speaking in her earpiece. But Cheryl soon relaxed and took to the job like a duck to water. Producers were thrilled with her, and rated her performance on the show highly.

‘She was a natural in front of the cameras,’ one studio hand at
CD:UK
said. ‘Once she got past her nervousness, she came into her own and provided a great foil to Dave’s witticisms. It’s not easy presenting a live show like that and she did it brilliantly. If the band ever folds, she can always try TV!’

Although she was critical of her performance, once she’d come off set, she decided that she hadn’t been so bad after all. ‘I was absolutely shitting myself,’ she said. ‘I enjoyed it but people don’t realize how hard it is. I’m not saying I’d never do it again, but I wouldn’t look for a career in it.’

By April, changes were afoot in the Girls Aloud camp. With Louis Walsh taking a step back, the girls welcomed legendary manager Hillary Shaw into their lives. A glamorous and formidable woman, Hillary had made her name managing eighties girlband Bananarama. At that point she was also looking after Girls Aloud’s old rival Dannii Minogue.

When rumours started to circulate that Hillary’s appointment was part of a plan to oust him from his position, Louis revealed that he was actually behind Hillary’s hiring, explaining that she would be looking after the day-to-day running of the
group. ‘We have open discussions about the future of the band and we know where we stand,’ he said.

Of course that didn’t stop him from inspiring more headlines when he worried fans by announcing that he hoped to manage Nadine when she went solo. ‘I’ve never made it a secret that I would like to manage Nadine one day,’ he told the
Sun.
‘She is one of the most talented girls I have ever worked with.’ Fans, panicking that their favourite group was heading towards an end, were reassured by the label, who said there were no plans for the band to split or Nadine to go solo. Cheryl, irritated by the reports, stated: ‘What sane person is actually going to want to leave the biggest girlband in the country? The story is just rubbish. We are working incredibly hard and nobody is leaving the band. Although we have been around two years we feel like we are just starting out.’

She also explained that the greatest hits that was in the works and would follow their third album was merely contractual and was not an indicator that the girls would go their separate ways.

However, that didn’t slow down the number of split stories that made the headlines. The
Sun
columnist Victoria Newton predicted the band would last just a year, while Cheryl’s stint on
CD:UK
had inspired some creative news writing that she was about to jump ship to become a full-time telly host.

Meanwhile, Cheryl was pleased to hear that she had shot up to number two on the
FHM
annual ‘100 Sexiest Women in the World’ list. And it was a good year all round for the girls as Sarah had jumped to number eight, Nadine was number thirty- five, while Kimberley and Nicola were new entries at forty-four and seventy-seven respectively.

But the girls didn’t pat themselves on the back for too long: they had a tour prepare for. After weeks of rehearsals, they began their jaunt with a pre-tour warm-up gig in Rhyl on the Welsh coast and went down a storm with their fans. When they emerged on stage for their first number, ‘The Show’, Cheryl knew they had finally arrived. Sure, they had played to packed houses before, but usually only at roadshows or on clubnights where the band were only part of an evening’s entertainment. This was the first time they had specifically asked fans to come and see them, and they had done so in their droves. Looking out at the sea of faces and arms waving in the air was amazing for Cheryl. As she glanced at her bandmates, she knew they’d come a long way: this is what they had worked so hard for.

Afterwards, Cheryl couldn’t contain her excitement about their first night on tour. ‘It was so overwhelming,’ she enthused. ‘It was amazing seeing the people that have made you who you really are, bought your albums, supported you the whole way through and you’re giving them something back – bouncing off each other.’

It wasn’t just the fans who loved the show – the critics did too, just as they had the band’s albums. Girls Aloud, it seemed, could do no wrong.

When they reached Dublin in June the tour was at an end, and no sooner had they stepped off stage after their closing song, ‘Sound Of The Underground’, than the girls dashed to the city’s Lillie’s Bordello club for their end-of-tour party. It was the first time in weeks that they were able to relax with their family, friends, dancers and crew without worrying about hangovers the next day.

Cheryl was particularly excited that Ashley had flown out for the final night. She had missed him on tour but she made sure that they either spoke or texted messages of love every night. And now he was there with her. ‘We’re madly in love,’ she told the
Mirror
at the gig. ‘I think he’s gorgeous. His football season is over now and Ashley flew over to Dublin to see our last show. We’re on two weeks’ holiday after this. We’re all going away on sunshine holidays with our boyfriends. The exact locations are being kept a secret.’ Cheryl’s own particular ‘sunshine holiday’ turned out to be a vacation she would never forget.

When Ashley and Cheryl touched down in Dubai, it felt as if they were in another world. The sun was high in the sky and the heat was ferocious, but better still they hadn’t been met at the airport by any paparazzi. For the first time in a long while they both felt free and finally able to relax and enjoy the world a little without worrying about someone jumping out in front of them and taking their picture.

Ashley was particularly pleased about that because this trip to Dubai wasn’t just a holiday: he was going to ask Cheryl to be his wife. Ashley was nervous, but in a good way. He and Cheryl had only been seeing each other a few months, but he knew that she was the girl for him and he couldn’t imagine being with anyone else but her.

Four weeks before the football season had ended, Ashley went on the hunt for a ring and found one that he was sure Cheryl would fall in love with – a single champagne diamond ring that reportedly cost around £50,000. When he had bought
the ring and put it away for safe keeping, he was flushed with excitement. He couldn’t wait to ask his girl to marry him.

The plan was that Ashley would take Cheryl on an intimate safari trip. After a short camel ride, he would sit her on a sand dune, whip out a bottle of champagne, produce the ring and then ask her to marry him, all as the sun was setting. It was simple, it was romantic and he knew she’d love it.

Unfortunately for Ashley, things didn’t run as smoothly as he had hoped.

Just as they were preparing to set out for their safari jaunt, a ferocious sandstorm whipped up from nowhere. Rain began pelting against the windows and strong winds howled around them, uprooting their wooden sunbeds and creating sand twisters. Ashley and Cheryl couldn’t believe what was happening. This was supposed to be a romantic getaway in the sunshine, and now it felt as if they were spending a wet weekend in Skegness. Ever resourceful, Ashley excused himself from the room, leaving Cheryl standing mesmerized by the stormy scene outside. Tucked away in the toilet, Ashley decided the time was right to ask his prospective father-in-law permission to marry his daughter. He was determined to do it by the book, which meant calling Cheryl’s dad.

As he waited for Garry Tweedy to answer his call, Ashley grew nervous. When Garry picked up, Ashley said, ‘Hi, it’s Ashley Cole. I want to ask for your permission to marry your daughter.’ There, he’d said it. It was out there and there was no going back. Thankfully, Garry was only too pleased and gave Ashley his seal of approval.

Returning to Cheryl, Ashley discovered that the storm had stopped just as fast as it had started and the sun seemed even
hotter than before. So off they went, melting in the heat, to find their guide for their safari trip. But when they did, Ashley was alarmed to discover that the intimate trip was nothing of the sort and that they’d have to share their very romantic experience with ten other holidaymakers.

While he fretted over his scotched plans, Cheryl, who was clinging on behind him on their camel, was having a nightmare herself because she was worried about the welfare of the camels they were riding. Ashley recalled the farcical scenario in his autobiography,
My Defence
, with Cheryl whispering, ‘Ashley, I think this is cruel, these poor cute animals dragging us big lumps around in this heat. Their nostrils must really hurt. I’m telling you, when we climbed on I’m sure I heard the camel groan.’ Frustrated that his plans had been ruined, he snapped back, ‘It’s a camel, Cheryl. Camels groan.’

She wasn’t having any of it. ‘What if he is suffering? What about his feet treading through all those prickly bushes?’ Ashley couldn’t take any more and, without thinking, yelled, ‘Babe! Is there any chance you can shut up?’

From that moment on Cheryl refused to speak to him. What a proposal this had turned out to be. Halfway through the camel trek, Ashley decided that even though it hadn’t worked out the way he’d wanted it to, he was still going to do what he’d come here for. As the sun started to set, he pulled Cheryl off her camel, sat her down on the sand dunes and brought out some champagne and strawberries he’d brought along. That worked a treat and Cheryl let a smile appear on her face. Ashley knew it was now or never, even if she was still mad at him for shouting at her.

As the sky grew darker, Ashley turned to Cheryl and asked her to stand up. When she did, he knelt in front of her. She
looked down at him, her dark eyes smiling. She knew what was about to happen and she couldn’t believe it. Ashley prepared to launch into the big speech he had planned back in London. But as he tried to remember his first line he knew it was futile. He was so choked up that he could barely say a word. Finally, clearing his throat, he managed to say, ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’ In an instant, Cheryl said ‘Yes’ and the couple fell into a warm embrace. The holidaymakers around them guessed what had just happened and gave them a round of applause.

On the way back to their villa, the pair talked about their big day, and laughed about the fact they were going to get married. Who would have thought it? The two of them getting hitched after such a short time? But it was happening. And if Cheryl couldn’t believe it, all she had to do was look at that big diamond ring sparkling on her finger for proof. And to think – if it hadn’t been for that psychic back in Newcastle, none of this might ever have happened.

When Cheryl and Ashley flew back home, the press had a field day. As they strode through the airport arm in arm, no one could miss the big diamond ring on Cheryl’s dainty digit.

The rest of the girls were over the moon about the news and couldn’t wait to congratulate her on being the first Girls Aloud member to get engaged. ‘They are so perfect together,’ Kimberley said at the time. ‘They are so similar. They make each other laugh and they are both so beautiful. They are made for each other.’ Nadine was straight on the phone to them, saying, ‘I can’t believe you are getting married – you’ve grown up!’

The couple officially announced their engagement in
OK!
magazine. It was a tough decision for both of them to make as they would have preferred to have kept the ins and outs of their engagement to themselves. But they knew if they kept the details of their lives too private they would merely encourage the press to snoop even more. ‘By telling the story of our engagement to
OK!
, we ensured that the truth was out there, in our
own words,’ Ashley explained in
My Defence.
‘Life has become a balancing act between maintaining our privacy, keeping the press happy and handling the stories as they happen.’

In the interview, which took place at Ashley’s gorgeous home, the couple opened up about how they met and how Ashley had proposed. Cheryl cheekily poked fun at the way Ashley had announced himself on the phone to her dad.

‘He thought it was a joke,’ she giggled in her
OK!
engagement interview. ‘Who rings their girlfriend’s dad and says, “Hi, I’m Ashley Cole.” My dad thought it was a wind-up!’