Cheryl is b-a-c-k, and she’s totally over playing nice
And this time, she’s taking no prisoners
ttending her friend’s wedding last week, Cheryl made sure all eyes were on her as she turned up in a show-stopping sheer and feathered dress. the Zuhair Murad outfit divided opinion at the nuptials of Syco TV boss Nigel Hall, it was clear Cheryl was loving all the attention, especially as there were so many other famous faces there. And we’re told it’s all part of her plan to start the next chapter of her life, which includes a sexy image reinvention, as well as shocking confessions about her love life. “Cheryl is upping the ante – she is out to prove she has still got it, and the dress she wore to the wedding was just that,” an insider tells heat. “It was a see-through number, and she knew it would probably get people talking. She was in danger of outshining the bride, but she’s aware that she’s one of the biggest celebrities in the UK, so this is the kind of statement dress people expected her to wear. It was quite OTT, but it really grabbed everyone’s attention. Cheryl is all about ‘working it’ at the moment – she’s doesn’t want to let any opportunity pass.”
Cheryl, 35, has been single since splitting from Liam Payne – the father of her 19-month-old son Bear – in July and, as she prepares for her big musical comeback, she is keen to still be seen as sexy and desirable, like pop rival Rita Ora. “Cheryl’s trying to sex up her image – and wanted to outshine guests like Amanda Holden at the wedding,” our source says. “She knows she’s not seen as sexy, like Rita is – and it really frustrates her. She’s found being compared to Rita [who duetted with Liam earlier this year and was also an X Factor judge] really annoying.
“Cheryl holds herself in high esteem, she was totally working it with Piers Morgan and all that TV crowd at the reception, as she wants them all behind her for the next few months.”
The insider continues, “She’s really trying to go for an edgier vibe and be the ‘bad bitch’, and is on a mission to make sure her new music has maximum impact. It stings that Liam has been linked to younger, sexier girls, as if becoming a mum has somehow made her less attractive. She knows her image needs a reboot, but she’s the queen of that – she’s done it so many times. This reinvention is personal in a lot of ways, as it’s also her way of getting herself back on form after Liam.”
‘She wants to be edgier and more of a “bad bitch”’
Cheryl is also using her music to address her failed relationships. Last week, lyrics were leaked from her explosive comeback single, Love Made Me Do It – in which Cheryl calls herself a “sucker” who “falls in love” with “every f**ker”. “It’s an edgy pop-dance track, and not a typical song that you would expect from Cheryl,” a source said. “She’s not holding back on her feelings and inevitably it will lead to a lot of speculation.” We’re told Cheryl’s roller-coaster love life, with divorces from Ashley Cole and Jean-bernard Fernadezversini, has inspired her “deeply personal” album, which she’s co-written. On another track, called Let You, the lyrics talk about giving a man she loved a voice, but her forgetting she had one, too.
Our source says the singer is hoping the album will change how the public view her romances. “Cheryl took a huge knock over her failed relationship with Liam – she feels like she’s the butt of a lot of jokes over how she can’t seem to hold on to a man,” we’re told. “There’s no way she’s going to be humiliated like that. She wants to be in control and would rather paint her love life as, ‘She’s the girl who keeps falling for the wrong guys, who then do her over.’ It sounds better, it makes her sound like less of a loser and more in line with the new ‘bad bitch’ reinvention. It makes her so angry that she’s being pitied, as if she’s someone who can’t even keep a man – Cheryl is a fiercely proud person. She thinks it’s way better and edgier to be perceived as the girl who can’t resist falling for bad boys – or ‘f**kers’.”
As well as her music, Cheryl is also concentrating on moving house, and has been looking at a large property in north London near best friend Kimberley Walsh. It will mean she and Bear will no longer have to live in the Surrey house they used to share with Liam. “She’s telling everyone how she’s moving on to the next chapter in her life – and it starts with moving back to north London. She says it will be a huge relief,” our source explains. “Cheryl’s hated living in the place she was sharing with Liam in the last few months since they split, but she felt she had to for the sake of Bear – she didn’t want too much disruption for him, but she was being reminded of everything every day. She didn’t like being stuck out in the ‘sticks’ where Liam was – and it was also just a few miles from where she had lived with Ashley. And now she says she never wants to go back to that area as it just has bad associations for her. So she is moving back to where she has friends – and she wants to be as close as possible to Kimberley, as that’s where she feels she will have the best quality of life.”
Our insider adds, “She can pop over for play dates with Bear and Kimberley’s kids, or just for a cup of tea – right now it would take well over an hour to get to her. She’s sick of feeling lonely and isolated and she wants to be back in a place where she has friends.
“She’s really ready to move on with her life, and this time she says she’s not going to be stupid enough to let her ambitions take a back seat for a man’s ever again, because it never works out. Now it’s just all about her and Bear, and what works for them.” n kate randall